Cristina Hodgson
A NEW Guinness World Record has been broken in the animal world.
Bobi, a mastiff from Alentejo—an area that spans from the Tagus River down to the Algarve and East all the way to the Spanish border—has recently been declared by the Guinness World Records (GWR), as the world’s oldest living dog.
Born on May 11 1992, Bobi is a whopping 30 years and 277 days old, a remarkable age for a dog.
In fact, according to the Guinness World Records, these dogs, the Rafeiro do Alentejo also called the Portuguese Mastiff and known for protecting livestock, usually have an average life expectancy of 13 years.
Not only has Bobi more than doubled the average life expectancy for his species, he has also broken an almost century-old record, per GWR.
The previous ‘oldest dog in the world’ titleholder was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey who was born in 1910 and lived for 29 years and 5 months.
Ironically enough, Bobi nearly didn’t survive infancy. He was due to be put down as a puppy along with the rest of his siblings. A frequent practice considered normal back in the 90s, and earlier, by older people in the area.
However, Bobi’s current owner, Leonel Costa (who was eight years old at the time), hid the puppy and eventually convinced his father to make the pup part of the family.
Costa attributes Bobi’s longevity to the dog’s diet of unseasoned human food, the canine’s freedom to roam unleashed through the forests and farmland close to home and the calm countryside in which he grew up.
Bobi is also ‘very sociable’ with other animals, and spends time among his furry pals, even cats!
The SIAC, a pet database authorised by the Portuguese government, has been in charge of verifying the animal’s age.
According to official records, Bobi was registered at a vet in Leiria, Portugal in 1992.
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