BOBI the Dog's title as the world's oldest canine was suspended last week after Guinness World Records officials began to have doubts about his real age.
He died in Oct last year at the official age of 31 years and 165 days, eight months after the record-breaker's hall of fame declared that he was the world's oldest living dog.
The purebred Rafeiro, a Portuguese race of livestock guard dog whose life expectancy is usually 12 to 14 years, was also declared the oldest dog ever, breaking a nearly century-old record held by an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, who died in 1939 aged 29 years and five months.
But sceptics cited by British and US media commented that Bobi's feet appeared to be a different colour in photos of him as a puppy and snaps of him in his dotage.
And Miguel Figuereido, a veterinarian in Lisbon, told AFP last year, "he doesn't look like a very old dog...with mobility problems...or with an old dog's muscle mass".
Guinness World Records insisted the suspension was "temporary, while (the review) was ongoing".
Bobi's owner, Leonel Costa, insisted that all the "suspicions are unfounded".
Costa accused "a certain elite in the veterinary world" of being behind these suspicions, because they had difficulty accepting that Bobi had always fed on a "natural diet" instead of dog food.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 02 Feb 24
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 02 Feb 24
