Ear tag

A similar system is used for cattle in the European Union (EU), each bovine animal having a passport document and tag in each ear carrying the same number.

Sheep and goats in the EU have tags in both ears, the carrying the official number of their flock and also for breeding stock an individual number for each animal; in case of sheep or goats intended for intra-community trade, one of these tags (the left one) must have a RFID chip (or the chip may instead be carried in a rumen bolus or on an anklet).

Australian sheep and goats are required to have visually readable ear tags printed with a Property Identification Code (PIC).

Livestock ear tags were developed in 1799 under the direction of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, for identification of Merino sheep in the flock established for King George III.

Today, ear tags in a variety of designs are used throughout the world on many species of animal to ensure traceability, to help prevent theft [citation needed] and to control disease outbreaks.

This request was part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) spurred by the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.

[8] The United States Department of Agriculture maintains a list of manufacturers approved to sell ear tags in the USA.

Ear tags (conventional and electronic) are used in the EU as official ID system for cattle, sheep and goat, in some cases combined with RFID devices The International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR) controls the issue electronic tag numbers under ISO regulation 11784.

Mandatory RFID tagging of sheep in Canada (which was previously scheduled to take effect January 1, 2013) will be deferred to some later date.

[11] Pigs, cattle and sheep are frequently earmarked with pliers that notch registered owner and/or age marks into the ear.

Mares on large horse breeding farms have a plastic tag attached to a neck strap for identification; which preserves their ears free of notches.