Bobi, a dog over 30 years old who lives in a small town in central Portugal, was officially designated “the world’s longest-lived dog” by the international organization Guinness World Records, it was reported this Sunday.
Bobi dethroned “Spike” with this brand, a Chihuahua originally from Mexico and residing in Ohio, United States, who two weeks ago had received the award for his 23-year life, reported the AFP agency.
Meanwhile, the previous dog designated by the publication as “the oldest in history” was an Australian cattle dog called “Bluey”, a breed of cattle shepherd, who lived 29 years and 5 months between 1910 and 1939.
The Guinness organization made the announcement after approving the record of “Bobi” officially certifying it in its Bookin the first days of February.
By documenting this record, the dog was 30 years and 266 days old, which made him “the longest-lived of all time”reported the news agency France Presse.
“We did not expect this reception,” said Leonel Costa, its 38-year-old owner, surprised. “For several days, onlookers and journalists from all over the world have come to meet him”he explained.
The dog, with brown hair and a very sociable character, weighs about 29 kilos. He lives surrounded by cats in a house in Conqueiros, a small town near the city of Leiria, in the historic province of Beira Litoral, in the center of the country, about 150 kilometers from the capital, Lisbon.
“Bobi” is a purebred “Rafeiro de Alentejo”, as they call the Portuguese mastiffs, with an average life expectancy between 12 and 14 years, recalls Guinness, about this native breed of dogs from Portugal, traditionally used by shepherds as flock guardians.
“He wanted his age to be recognized, he was the only one of four puppies to survive,” Leonel Costa confided. to AFP, and attributed the longevity of your pet “to the calm environment in which it lives”, and to the “varied diet that it receives at home, based on meat and fish”.
“He always ate what we eat,” Costa stressed.
“It is a particular case, because the images released do not seem to show the signs of a dog that is very old, nor does it show mobility problems or muscle mass,” Miguel Figueiredo, a doctor at the Joao XXI veterinary clinic, diagnosed. , from Lisbon.
Guinness is a reference work published annually, containing a collection of world records, both in human achievement and in the natural world.
