WO1992002126A1

WO1992002126A1 - Livestock tagging

Info

Publication number: WO1992002126A1
Application number: PCT/GB1991/001165
Authority: WO
Inventors: Delwyn Roberts-Jones
Original assignee: British Technology Group Ltd.
Priority date: 1990-07-28
Filing date: 1991-07-15
Publication date: 1992-02-20
Also published as: IE912641A1; GB2246500A; GB9016613D0; AU8193291A

Abstract

Livestock tagging is accomplished by using a 'smart card' (2) electronic tag, encasing it in a bio-compatible envelope (4) and anchoring it to the tissue into which it is implanted. The anchoring means can take several forms such as an apertured member (10, 12) which can be separated from the envelope by tearing along a line of perforations (6, 8) or an outercasing (42) of open celled elastomer to which the tissue can become anchored. The outer casing (42) can be split to remove the 'smart card' (40). The electronic tag is programmed with the life history of the animal to which it is implanted by successive remotely effected updates. In addition both the 'smart card' and the anchor contain identical identifying codes to enable a readout from any 'smart card' to be associated with the animal from which it came.

Description

LIVESTOCK TAGGING

The present invention relates to livestock tagging.

The identi ication of farm animals is a legal requirement in most developed countries (in

Britain under the Tuberculosis Order of 1984) for the purpose of national disease eradication and the payment of government subsidies.

Tagging is also undertaken for carcase classification schemes, breeding and feeding programmes and for milk recording. Possible future uses include disease data retrieval and feedback of information to livestock producers following meat inspection, monitoring of breeding cycles and disease status in individual herds and specific disease investigations eg into Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, Mad Cow Disease or Prion Disease) and theft prevention. In connection with BSE the Commons Agriculture Select Committee has recommended that a computerised register of the movements of all cattle be set up forthwith.

The advent of the Open Market in Europe on 1 January 1993 with its numerous regulations relating to animal disease control, animal welfare, meat hygiene standards etc, will add a new dimension to the urgency for a tamper-proof system of farm animal identification. Current methods of tagging include the provision of metal and plastic ear tags (cattle, sheep and pigs), plastic leg, neck and tail bands (cattle), freeze marks (cattle), marking with aerosol paints (sheep) and slap imprint or tattoo marks (pigs).

All these types of tags are unsatisfactory for one or more of the following reasons:- 1 • Liability to damage; 2. Ease of removal, accidental or malicious;

5. Difficulty of reading, especially the metal and tattoo forms, leading to confusion; 4. Limitation to a single number, with or without a few letters;

5. Exclusive usefulness on the farm - of no value once the animal leaves eg for slaughter;

6. Tendency to cause infection, especially with the metal type of tag; and

7. Existence of a welfare problem - ear tags are normally inserted by means of an injector instrument which creates a large painful hole and haemorrhage. In connection with (2) an extremely serious situation has arisen with the UK and Eire Government Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme whereby metal tags are being switched by unscrupulous owners for financial gain. The net result is a grave interference with the eradication programme and an adverse effect on the animal disease status of the country and its ability to export.

A tamper-proof electronic system of animal tagging which would overcome the above defects and at the same time supply positive identification with extra data eg name and address of owner, breed, sex, date of birth, veterinary history etc, is urgently required.

The problem with currently proposed tags is that implantation techniques have not been very successful. A tag, once implanted, will tend to migrate and so may become lost within the animal. Tags implanted in the wrong place in an animal's body are susceptible to damage or wear. Also upon slaughter^', tags may readily become detached from the animal's carcass and so there is a strong possibility that tags from different animals may become mixed up.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved livestock tag.

According to the present invention there is provided a livestock tag comprising a "smart card" as hereinbefore defined, encased in an envelope of material which is biologically acceptable to animal tissue, but which does not become bonded to the tissue, and anchoring means for anchoring the envelope to the tissue but from which anchoring means the envelope can be readily released.

Livestock tags embodying the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Figure 1 is plan view of a first embodiment of a liv-stock tag; Figure 2 .S a section of a detail of Figure

1 showing a modification;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a second embodiment of a livestock tag;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a third embodiment of a livestock tag; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of a fourth embodiment of a livestock tag.

The tag shown in Figure 1 is arranged to be implanted in, for example, a cow. The tag comprises a so called "smart card" 2, encapsulated in a rectangular envelope 4 of PTFE or polyurethane. The envelope 4 is divided into three regions 10,12 and 14 by two parallel rows of perforations 6 and 8. The central region 12 contains the "smart card" 2. The two outer regions 10 and 14 are each provided with a central opening 10A and 1 A respectively. Where the outer regions 10 and 14 are so thin as to be flaccid, they may be provided with a stiffening material which allows a significant degree of bending without allowing each outer region to become folded onto itself too easily.

In operation a slot like incision (eg 2 cm long) is made into the tissue of a cow and the tag inserted. The opening in the tissue is then stitched together to hold the tag in place until the wound heals. Stitches may also be made through the perforations to hold the tag in place and also to make unauthorised removal more difficult.

As the wound heals the tissue on opposite sides of the two outer regions 10 and 14 will knit together through the openings 10A and 14A and so the tag will be locked in place and prevented from migrating.

Each of the three regions 10,12 and 14 of the tag is marked with an identical identifying code which may be in printed form or digitally encoded for example as a series of notches along the perimeter of each region.

Thus at the time of slaughter, the central region 12 may be cut or torn along the lines of perforations 6 and 8 and removed complete with the "smart card" 2 from the carcass to have the data held on the "smart card" read out. Because the two outer regions 10 and 14 remain firmly implanted in the carcass 1 the carcass will have at least one identifying code to associate it with the data read out from the "smart card" 2.

In a modification shown in Figure 2 each outer region (only region 10 shown) is provided with a thin narrow arm, 16 which projects into the opening 10A. Projectin._. outwardly from opposite sides of the arm 16 are barbed projections 18. When the walls of tissue on opposite sides of the opening 10A are pressed towards one another the barbs penetrate the tissue and lock the two walls of tissue in contact with one another. This positively ensures that the two walls will knit together. Other means for holding the two walls of tissue in contact with one another through the opening 10A can be used. For example, each tag may be provided with a fibre optic cable which has one end terminating in the opening 10A. By connecting the other end to a source of laser energy, the two walls of tissue, upon being pressed together through the opening, can be cauterised holding them togther. The fibre optic cable can then be severed close to the tag.

The tag shown in Figure 3 comprises a disc like "smart card" 20 encased in a disc like envelope 22 of PTFE or Polyurethane. Surrounding the envelope 22, is an annular piece 24 of woven fabric. Being woven, it will be appreciated, that tissue lying on opposite sides of the fabric will tend to knit together through the fabric. Before insertion, the fabric is temporarily stiffened with a starch-like material to hold the fabric place until the knitting action has started. The material of the fabric may be PTFE or Polyurethane or other material coated with PTFE, polyurethane or other biologically compatable substance. Instead medical grade dacron sheet can be used or an open cell elsatomeric material.

As with the embodiment of Figure 1 , bo-^*-h the annular piece 24 and the envelope 22 are markό-i with an identical identifying code. The code may, for example, be marked in ink or induced magnetically if both the piece 24 and envelope 22 are impregnated with magnetic material. Alternatively a simple colour coded code can be used such as is used to mark the values on resistors.

The tag shown in Figure 4 shows a disc like "smart card" 30 encased in a disc-like envelope 32 of PTFE or Polyurethane. Attached to the envelope 32 is a part-circular piece 34 of material similar to the material of the outer regions 10 and 14 of Figure 1. The centres of the piece 34 and the envelope 32 are offset from one another so as to allow the tag to be inserted in a slit in an animal's tissue, envelope 2 first. The piece 34 has a number of openings 36 therein to allow opposite walls of tissue to make contact with one another and knit together. In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, a

"smart card" 40 is encapsulated in a PTFE coating or envelope with an identifying code marked therein either by engraved or raised alphanumeric lettering. The whole is then encapsulated in a block 42 of an elastomeric open celled bio-compatible material so that the identifying code is also moulded onto the inner face of the block 42.

When the block 42 is implanted into an animal, the surrounding tissue will bound or become anchored to the individual cells in block 42. Upon slaughter of the animal, the block 42 is opened up with a knife or scalpel to allow the PTFE envelope containing the "smart card" to be removed. The identifying code on the inner wall of the block (which remains anchored to the tissue will now become visible so that it can be matched up with the code on the "smart card" when data from the smart card is extracted.

• It is possible to insert the tag in many places on the animal, however, it has been discovered that a particularly advantageous place in which to implant the tag in cattle and other amatomically similar animals, is in the side of the neck and in particular, in the neck muscle Musculus Brachio Cephalicus. In other animals similar sites can be identified by skilled persons having regard to the guidance herein.

The tag is advantageously implanted in the upper third of the neck. In the case of cattle the implant should lie some 10 to 20 cm from the junction of the head and the neck. This position ensures that it will be subject to minimum damage during the life of the cow and will largely be unaffected by the instruments of slaughter. While the above description has mainly b-^~ n directed to implanting tags in cattle it will be appreciated that such tags can also be implanted in other livestock such as pigs, sheep, horses and dogs. The tags in such cases can be used to identify the owners of the animals in the event that they stray. Also the tags act as a deterrent against theft.

Using techniques well known in the art the information stored by the tags can be read or written remotely (by electromagnetic coupling) so that the tags can be updated or amended as required. In such an arrangement some of the data (eg the serial number of the tag) should be protected, so that it can never be altered, in order to reduce the incidence of fraud.

It will be appreciated that by using a "smart card" encased in an envelope of sterile non- toxic material there is little or no risk of infection. Also because the card is implanted under the skin there is less damage to the hide than when exposed tags are used.

Claims

1. A livestock tag comprising a "smart card" as hereinbefore defined, encased in an envelope of material which is biologically acceptable to animal tissue, but which does not become bonded to the tissue, and anchoring means for anchoring the envelope to the tissue but from which anchoring means the envelope can be readily released.

2. A livestock tag according to Claim 1 wherein said anchoring means comprises two lateral portions of said envelope which lie on opposite sides of the "smart card" and each of which has at least one opening through which severed tissue can bond together.

3* A livestock tag according to Claim 2 wherein each lateral portion is delimited from the main portion of the envelope containing the "smart card", by a line of perforations, so as to be readily separable from the main portion by tearing along the line of perforations.

4. A livestock tag according to Claim 2 or to Claim 3 including mechanical means for locking two mating surfaces of tissue on opposite sides of said opening in close contact with each other.

5. A livestock tag according to Claim 2 or to Claim 3 includ lg a fibre optical cable extending into a said opening to conduct laser energy into said opening and so bind facing surfaces of tissue on opposite sides of said opening together.

6. A livestock tag according to Claim 1 wherein said anchoring means comprises a fabric material secured to said envelope and with which said tissue can bond.

7. A livestock tag according to Claim 6 wherein said envelope is disc-shaped, said fabric material is annular, and said envelope and annular fabric material are concentric.

8. A livestock tag according to Claim 1 wherein said envelope is disc-shaped and said anchoring means is generally disc-shaped but has its centre offset with respect to that of said envelope.

9. A livestock tag according to Claim 1 wherein said anchoring means comprises an open-celled material surrounding said envelope, the cells of the open-celled material being susceptible to binding with animal tissue.

10. A livestock tag according to any preceding claim wherein each of said envelope and said anchoring means bear identical identifying codes so that when they are pysically separated a connection between them remains.

11. A livestock tag according to Claim 10 wherein said identifying codes are represented by digitally encoded notches on said anchoring means and said envelope.

12. A livestock tag according to Claim 10 wherein said identifying codes comprise colour codes.

13. A livestock tag according to Claim 10 wherein said identifying codes comprises a raised or engraved alphanumeric inscription.

14. A livestock tag according to Claim 10 wherein said identifying codes comprise magnetic codes.

15. A method of tagging livestock comprising producing a slit in the side of the neck and inserting a livestock tag according to any preceding claim.

16. A method according to Claim 15 wherein said slit is cut into the Musculus Brachio Cephalicus.

17. A method according to Claim 15 wherein said slit is cut into the upper third of the neck.

18. A method of tagging cattle according to any preceding claim wherein said slit is located between 10 and 20 cm from the junction between the head and the neck.