British pet is 'oldest dog in the world'
The owners of Bella say that she is at least 29 years old.
Owner David Richardson, 76, said he got the mixed breed dog from an animal home about 26 years ago when she was at least three years old, making Bella's age more than 200 years in canine years.
But the RSPCA said it does not have any records for Bella and the Guinness World Records said without the appropriate paperwork it could not be proved.
"I'm convinced she is the oldest dog in the world," said Mr Richardson, from Chesterfield.
Gareth Deaves, records manager from Guinness World Records, said "unless we can see a doggy birth certificate or some really clear evidence from the RSPCA then we won't be able to prove Bella's age and we can't list her as the oldest dog."
According to Mr Deaves, the most recent record for the oldest dog was held by Butch, a 28-year-old from America who died in 2003.
The oldest ever dog was Bluey, a sheepdog from Australia, who lived to 29.
貝拉的主人說她現在至少有29歲。
貝拉的主人、76歲的大衛•理察森說，他是大約26年前從一個「動物之家」領回貝拉的，當時她至少有三歲，那麼按照「狗齡」計算，這隻雜交寵物狗現在有200多歲了!
但「英國皇家防止虐待動物協會」(RSPCA)稱，他們沒有貝拉的任何出生記錄。而《金氏世界紀錄》稱，如果沒有可靠憑據，那就無法證明貝拉的真實年齡。
來自切斯特菲爾德的理察森說：「我相信貝拉是世界上年齡最大的寵物狗。」
《金氏世界紀錄》的紀錄負責人加雷斯•迪弗斯說：「除非我們能看到RSPCA出具的出生證明或其它一些真實憑據，否則我們無法證明貝拉的年齡，也就不能認證她為世界上年齡最大的狗。」
據迪弗斯介紹，目前世界上年齡最大的狗紀錄保持者是美國的一隻名叫布奇的寵物狗，它活了28歲，已於2003年去世。
此前「世界最年老的狗」紀錄的保持者是一隻名叫布盧伊的澳洲牧羊犬，它活了29歲。