RFID Tagging for Horses

Filed in archive Sports on April 27, 2005

The Horse magazine reports that the National Institute of Animal Agriculture (NIAA) has recommended RFID tagging as the required form of identification of horses, to best provide disease tracking.

The article quotes the Vice Chair of NIAA Equine Health Committee:

Amy Mann, director of health and regulatory affairs for the American Horse Council and vice chair of the NIAA Equine Health Committee, said, "The NAIS intended to establish a standardized, alpha-numeric system for animal identification. The purpose of such a system is to permit 'trace back' within 48 hours of a confirmed diagnosis of an animal disease."

It is a misconception that there are no equine diseases of significance that require tracking, said Mann.

The plan is to use ISO standards for the microchips used in the RFID tagging, the article notes:

Monica Emmenegger, director of The Crystal Import Corporation in Birmingham, Ala., and Swiss delegate to the International Standards Organization (ISO) committee, thoroughly explained RFID and the necessity of using an ISO compliant chip.

"DATAMARS (an animal identification company based in Switzerland) established ISO standards for animal ID in 1996," began Emmenegger. These standards are referred to as ISO 11784 and 11785, "and guarantee the compatibility of products manufactured by all makers through uniformity of codification, which consists of a 15-numeric digit code, and uniformity in the way the transponders (microchip) and reading devices (scanners) work."

And, by the way, did you know that at least one country (Great Britain) requires passports for horses? RFID microchips are encouraged for the horse passports, too.