A Survey of Livestock Identification Systems

摘要

Animal identification by means of marking animals' bodies was first recorded 3,800 years ago, in the Code of Hammurabi, and throughout history, valuable animals such as horses have been identified to prevent thievery all over the world. Today, the reasons for identification of livestock include production management, control of disease outbreaks, establishment of ownership, requirements for export, and consumer demands. In the current global livestock environment, awareness, fear and recognition of animal borne diseases such as 'mad cow disease' have driven calls for reliable and effective systems for individual identification and tracking of livestock throughout the animals' entire lifecycle. Such systems empower authorities with rapid and precise information (such as the animals' farm of origin, cows it has been in contact with etc.), aiding them to take prompt and direct action to reduce the possibility of a disease outbreak. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is becoming globally recognized as the technology to implement animal identification, and has become a mandatory form of livestock management in many countries (such as Canada and Australia), as well as in the European Union, while other countries have begun trials of the technology (such as the United States of America).