At 203 in doggie years, is Bella the mongrel the world's oldest dog ever?

The joy of gnawing on a bone is a distant memory and these days the only walkies she can manage is a potter around the garden.

But that's not bad going considering Bella the Labrador cross is around 29 years old.

That's 203 if every year of a dog's life equals seven human years.

The faithful pet is believed to be the world's oldest living dog and could even be the oldest dog ever.

Unfortunately her owner David Richardson, 76, has no documentation to prove her precise date of birth and so Bella's extraordinary longevity will never enter the record books.

Mr Richardson bought Bella for £70 from an RSPCA rescue centre on June 21, 1982, when she was "about three years old".

They have been companions ever since.

But only this week the pensioner thought he was finally going to lose his faithful old friend.

Bella suddenly fell ill and was unable to walk. More...

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