Was it the Doritos and Pez? Oldest rabbit in world lives in Tewksbury

(Courtesy photo)
The champ inspects the carpet in front of his Guinness certificate.
By Kate Augusto, Globe Correspondent
Plenty of hopping? Just a nibble of the finest lettuce? Clean living? Whatever he's been doing, it's working. George, a rabbit living with a Tewksbury family, has been declared the oldest rabbit in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.
George, who is 14, was awarded the “The Oldest Living Rabbit” honors by Guinness after several vets confirmed his age.
The life expectancy for rabbits is 6 to 8 years, making George nearly double the average, or about 160 years old in human terms.
Joe Breton, 33, got George while at the University of Maine in 1994, four months before he met his wife, Amy.
Amy credits the rabbit with bringing her and her husband together.
“When I first met my husband I had not much in common with him,” said Amy, 32, a veterinary technician. “But I thought, ‘He can’t be that bad because he has a rabbit’ … and eventually I fell in love with him.”
Amy said she and her husband, a civil engineer, had to fill out tons of paperwork and get witnesses to sign papers saying they knew the rabbit in order to get the distinction. A spokeswoman for Guinness in London, Amarilis Espinoza, confirmed that George is the champ.
Amy said she and her husband joke that the Pez and Doritos they fed George in college are part of the reason he’s still alive.
“I would never recommend for anyone to feed that to a rabbit but he was a college dorm room rabbit so maybe that helped with his longevity,” she said.



My rabbit is actually 14 as well! His name is Petie and he is still the cutest thing you've ever seen. =) I love him! I google'd the longest living rabbit out of curiousity because I'm so proud of my happy bunny. Maybe fourteen isn't really that uncommon. Well I hope both rabbits have many more years to come!
-Jessica
actually, my pet mini rex is like 15 and a half- I thought for sure she was going to go like 7 years ago.. I have a feeling she might be going sooner than later.. but in all honesty, she is a mean rabbit.. always biting, food or not....she used to try to hump the male cat and he would run away. My two pet cats are dead now, but the rabbit lives on, go figure..
I'm from fort Smith Arkansas and my Rabbit is 10 years old. But wow ya'll got him beat lol I didn't know rabbits lived this long! His name is Bob, I got him when I was 10 and I just turned 23
Go, George, go! What a delightful couple. I adopted my bunny, Heather, from a shelter in 1995. She was either one or two years old then; they weren't sure. I figure her to be approaching 15 or 16 now. She requires a lot of care due to her arthritis, but is as affectionate and opinionated as ever. Her pasttimes include eating, sleeping, watching TV, and basking by the woodstove with our three cats. Heather has her own room in our home near Silver Run, MD. We are so proud of her. Best of luck to all these senior buns...cherish them every day!
cool my bunny fluffy is only six and a half but i got him on my sixth birthday so he has a loooooooong way to go! btw, what type of bunny is george?
Our fun-loving male rex, died last week after 12 1/2 years. He was such a great bunny and loved giving kisses. The kids miss him so much!! I am so surprised to see that he could have really lived longer. Wow, 14 and 16 years old, that is amazing. Growing up I had many bunnies on my list of pets. My last one died at seven years old and I thought that was a long time. We must be doing something right for these heart-warming little critters!!
May you all have continued happiness with your bunny companions!
We have a bunny who is around 9 years old, but I'm really commenting to point out that Lynne Wagner's comment from 5:57 pm has very questionable math!
Ana is my 5th since 1994.....I adopted her when she was 6, .....2 months ago.......shes very slender and very active and you'd never know she was 6 yrs old, you'd think she was 6 months the way she is :).......Im curious as to what your take is everyone on when you lose a rabbit, i've lost 4 since my 1st one bugsey a dutch.....i always feel the need to fill that void, i expect i'll always be a bunny lover at heart.......
Wow, 14, that's amazing. Our bunny Pepe is 8 1/2. He's actually really healthy except for some arthritis in his right leg. Rabbits are amazing pets and I'm am so blessed to have shared my life with bunnies (we had 7 at one time).
MY DWARF RABBIT IS 12 1/2 YEARS OLD. HER NAME IS ASHLEY. I HAD THREE OTHER RABBITS BUT SHE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO LIVED. I GOT HER WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS IN KINDERGARDEN NOW SHE IS IN 12 GRADE.
23 years and still going... game set match
Hi,my dwarf rabbit is called Fluffy,he's 12 years old in march 2009 ,is still active, alway's snuggling in to our arms and running round the rabbit hutch and rabbit run,16 year's old seem's like a possability on his behavior
Shel - My take on losing a rabbit is that it's just as painful as losing any other pet. My boy Andre died suddenly at about 10 months from sepsis; that was two years ago, and I grieved mightily and still miss him. Congrats to all these other long-lived buns (Josie, what's your secret?). Heather is still going strong and sitting in my lap right now!
My lop-earred rabbit Buttercup turned 14 on Feb. 22. She has lived longer in human years than the human who shares her birthday, and she still has all her teeth. No wooden choppers for this girl! She LOVES to eat!
HEY My rabbit Petrie (named after land before time bird) is 14 or 15 cute black female dwarf lived outside in a cage in cold CANADA all her life. shes a cutie she also ate a fare bit of news paper. but unfortunately i think she just died. im sad so i decided to check this.
14 years old....how great is that!!!
Haley is my lop who is 10 1/2....I guess like people bunnies are also living longer. She lives a great life at my house...she gets much excercise, love, a great diet and is always in a safe environment. She has blocked tear ducts and I must flush her eyes every other day. For the past year she has been sneezing and wheezing a bit. I will fall apart if I loose her......... I want her to beat George's record!!!!!
Hi. My rabbit Bubba just turned 11 years old in January (young compared to some of you guys' bunnies!) This week he had successful surgery to remove carpet fibers he got into. He tends to chomp on them when he is not getting enough attention, even tho he has the run of the house and every food and toy you can imagine. But a successful surgery at 11 years 1 month is great, I think! Good luck and lots of love to all you bunny lovers out there! Aren't rabbits just about the greatest pets in the world?!?! We rescued Bubba when he was thrown out one month after he was born. The idiots who tossed him decided he wasn't cute any more. No idea what they are missing!!!
We have two rabbits, Albus and Leah. I hope and pray they live for a very very long time. A friend of mine had a Flemish like Albus that lived to be 21 years old. So I have high hopes for our two. The vet was very impressed in how well we take care of them. We love them so very much.
petre or whatever was not a bird. he was a flying reptile.
I am from Hong Kong. And i have a rabbit called Mrs.rabbit and she look exactly the same as George and now she is 13 years old. Want to know how is George going now? And hope all the rabbits have a happy and health life.
Hi My I Had Two Wee Rabbit Sisters & One Of Them Died Two Years Ago (Snowdrop) Due To Having Cancerous Tumers All Over Her Tiny Body Bless Her, But I've Still Got Ma Wee Rabbit (Shelly) Who Is 15 Years Old Comming Up 16 In May 2nd. She's Not Well At The Moment But The Vets Been Out And Said That She'll Be Fine In A Few Days Due To A Small Injection. Wow 23 Years Old Jocie ? I'm Not Convinced But I'll Believe It When I See It.
my rabbit is 10 years old and she is a lionhead. we got her from the local pet shop and she is really healthy. i thing she will be living for many years to come (hopefully)
Hi Our family purchased a netherland dwarf in 1994 or 1995. We can't be completely sure because we have lost the paper on him. His name was Bugs and we purchased him from the local ACE hardware store for our children. We kept him outside all year long until two years ago when he could not handle the cold anymore. We live in Rothschild, Wi. Sadly, our little Bugs passed away on June 15, 2009, which was 11 days after his 14th or 15th birthday! We sure miss him. RIP Bugsy.
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