FORTEAN FOLLOW-UPS
All the latest updates on dodgy old dogs, chainsmoking runners and fentanyl overdose scares
WORLD’S OLDEST DOG [FT429:13, 430:25, 439:23]
When he died last October at the apparent age of 31, Bobi the Rafeiro do Alentejo mastiff held the record for not only the world’s oldest living dog, but also the record for the oldest dog ever. His owners, the Costa family from the village of Conqueiros in Portugal, attributed Bobi’s longevity to a “calm, peaceful environment”, but post-mortem scrutiny of Bobi’s life suggested that all was not as it seemeds. Suspicions about the veracity of Bobi’s age claim caused Guinness World Records (GWR) to suspend his records while further investigation was carried out.
Among the factors causing doubt is a photo taken in 1999 and claimed by his owners to be of Bobi that shows a dog with different coloured paws to the one that died last year. In addition, his claim to longevity rested on his entry in the Portuguese national pet database, which was cited as confirmation of his age. However, since his death, vets have pointed out that the entries are based on owners’ self-certification of an animal’s age, so cannot be relied on to give independent verification of Bobi’s longevity. The Portuguese government database for the registration of cats and dogs has confirmed that it had an entry for Bobi in which his owners say he was born in 1992, but said that it had “no registration or data that can confirm or deny this statement” and nothing that could verify that the entry applied to the dog that died in 2023. An official at the database said that they had never been contacted by GWR to verify the information, while Danny Chambers of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said, “Not a single one of my veterinary colleagues believe Bobi was actually 31 years old.”
DNA analysis confirmed that the dog was indeed old, but could not be used to verify that his age was beyond his breed’s usual lifespan.
Guinness announced that they were carrying out a “formal review” of the oldest dog record and that the organisation was examining the evidence and consulting experts. By 22 February, GWR announced it “no longer has the evidence it needs to support Bobi’s claim as the record holder” and had stripped him of the record. Bobi’s owner Leonel Costa, 38, blamed the withdrawal of his records on “a veterinary elite with a vested interest in the dog food industry” who are in denial about the virtues of Bobi’s diet of natural food. GWR said: “We’re not yet in a position to confirm a new holder for the record, although we certainly hope that the publicity around the record title encourages pet owners from around the world to get in touch.” A chihuahua named Spike, who at 23 briefly held the oldest living dog record in December 2022 before Bobi’s owner came forward, is believed to be still alive and could reclaim his record, while the oldest dog ever record is likely revert to Bluey, a cattle dog who died in Australia at the age of 29 years and five months in 1939. theguardian.com, 16 Jan; D.Express, 19 Jan 2024.
UNCLE CHEN [FT431:8]
Chinese marathon runner Uncle Chen, who has been nicknamed the “Smoking Brother” and achieved international fame for his habit of chain-smoking his way through every race, was disqualified from this year’s Xiamen marathon, despite completing it in three hours and 33 minutes and coming 574th out of 1,500 runners. He fell afoul of an “initiative” implemented by the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) that says: “Uncivilized behaviour from runners such as open defecation, smoking, or trampling on flower beds or green spaces that affect the race and the safety of other runners will result in disqualification.” It is unclear how this will affect Chen’s participation in future marathons, and reactions to his ban have been mixed. Some people have celebrated him as a “legend” while others have condemned his smoking habit as inconsiderate to other runners and potentially a form of doping. dailymail.co.uk, 19 Jan 2024.
SHAKAHOLA FOREST MASSACRE [FT432:5]
Kenyan pastor Paul MacKenzie was arrested in April last year after it was discovered that he had persuaded many of his acolytes to starve themselves to death in order to “meet Jesus” and to kill children who resisted. Authorities found a mass graveyard in woodlands near Shakahola belonging to his Good News International “church” and embarked on the grisly task of exhuming all the remains. Some of these appeared to show signs of organ theft, raising suspicions that MacKenzie was also engaged in an illicit trade in body parts.
Now, nearly a year on, authorities have completed the exhumation, and their final count of bodies found in the forest stands at 429. Cases relating to Good News International, which authorities have now classed as “an organised criminal group”, have also started to come to court. Bizarrely, the first case to be heard involved 65 of MacKenzie’s surviving acolytes, rescued from the church’s compound by police. They were facing charges of attempted suicide after continuing to refuse food following their rescue and hospitalisation. Some were so weak that they needed to be supported by police officers to enable them to walk into the courtroom. Under legislation dating back to the colonial era, attempting suicide in Kenya is a crime and carries a potential two-year sentence. The case caused a wide outcry across the country,
with the national human rights commission decrying the charges as “potentially retraumatising already seriously traumatised people”.
MacKenzie himself also faced court in December, not in relation to the mass deaths of his followers, but on a charge of illegally operating the studio which he used to film his online sermons, and for distributing films without a licence. He was found guilty, although he was cleared of another charge of inciting children against attending school. Sentencing was postponed, but he faced up to five years imprisonment or a fine for this conviction. Kenyan authorities did finally get round to charging the self-proclaimed pastor with crimes relating to the mass deaths after the court warned prosecutors that if they did not get on with it, they’d release him on their own terms. As a result, he has now been charged with 191 counts of murder, assault, “facilitating the commission of a terrorist act” and “subjecting a child to torture”. 94 other suspects have been charged along with him, including some of the starving acolytes authorities rescued, believed to be parents of children who died. Some of these are reported to have given false names and identities and to have failed to account for the whereabouts of their children. The trial is scheduled to begin later this year. MacKenzie maintains his innocence on the grounds that he had closed his church down before the deaths allegedly occurred. D.Telegraph, 17 Jun 2023; BBC News, 10 Nov 2023, 16 Jan 2024; rte.ie/news, 6 Feb 2024.
FENTANYL SCARE [431:5]
The social panic in the US about skin contact overdoses from the opiate fentanyl continues to escalate. Primarily spread among law enforcement agencies, it has seen numerous officers fainting and having panic attacks that they interpret as “overdoses” after encountering the drug. In January, the District Attorney of Sonoma County, California, Carla Rodriguez, posted a public services announcement on her website about a six-year-old child dying from a contact fentanyl overdose. It started by saying “in 2017 there was maybe 12 opioid related deaths and when the covid pandemic hit, it increased by 566%,” and went on to claim that “Lisa”, who loved soccer and horses, was enjoying herself in a playground when she “fell down and made this gurgling noise and then went limp”. The announcement went on to say that Lisa “saw some white powder and touched it. That’s all she did… All of a sudden, something just wasn’t right. Her pupils look like little dots.”
Local news website The California Newsroom doubted the tale, so they contacted Dr Ryan Marino, a medical toxicologist at Case Western Reserve University, who said: “It’s impossible. Accidentally touching powder fentanyl cannot cause an overdose in any way, that’s not something that’s ever been reported.” He also pointed out that there was absolutely no evidence that there were “just piles of fentanyl powder out in parks” and added “What a crazy amount of misinformation!” The Newsroom also checked with the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office, who told them it had no record of a child dying from fentanyl exposure at a playground, so investigated further. They found that the announcement had been created by ad agency Amaturo Sonoma Media Group for Rodriguez, who had contributed to the content. They contacted Rodriguez to ask her questions about the alleged incident and she admitted “It is not based on a true story,” but was unrepentant, saying “I am not concerned about people being too alert about the dangers of fentanyl, period. I am not.” She insisted that the medical experts are wrong and that she has “seen some evidence that touching fentanyl can be hazardous”, although she did not go on to provide any. “The science is very sound,” Marino said. “There has never actually been a case of this.” norcalpublicmedia. org, 17 Jan 2024.