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Microchips reunite lost pets with owners PHILADELPHIA (AP) Each day, Patrick McCallion takes his 13-month-old dog Stewart to the corner park, where the exuberant yellow Lab mix can run loose with his pooch pals. But the park isn't enclosed.
So McCallion took out a bit of disappearance insurance, getting a microchip the size of a grain of rice implanted under the dog's skin, between the shoulder blades. In the last few years, millions of dogs and cats as well as tigers and other unusual pets have been implanted with these microchips, which are encoded with unique numbers to make identifying lost, stolen or abandoned animals a snap. When a lost pet is brought to a shelter or clinic, workers can use a handheld scanner to read the chip's number. A computer database then matches the number with the pet's owner, medical history and other pertinent information. At Queen Village Animal Clinic, where Stewart got his chip, the injection costs about $30, plus a one-time registration fee of $12. "Probably every day at least one dog runs away from
that park," said McCallion, 28, of The chips have been used to reunite thousands of lost
pets with their owners. In northeastern The pooch last disappeared in November, but was back home two weeks later. "I know when she takes off, one way or another
she'll be back because she's chipped," said Perry, 32, of Microchip implantation has been around since the 1980s but was relatively rare until the mid-1990s, when chipmakers introduced a universal scanner that could read every model. Scanners are now found in most shelters and animal control agencies across the country, according to Mary Madsen, a customer service supervisor for AVID Identification Systems. Norco, Calif.-based AVID is one of two dominant chipmakers. As of last year, 2.5 million pets were listed in the company database. The American Kennel Club operates the other database, which contains more than 1.1 million pets and is affiliated with Schering-Plough Animal Health, distributor of the HomeAgain chip. Most of the pets in the AKC database are dogs (842,645) and cats (265,349). However, HomeAgain chips, made by Destron Fearing, can also be found in birds, horses, rabbits, tigers, monkeys, seals and many other unusual pets.
More than 70,000 lost pets have been reunited with their owners since the AKC program's inception in 1995, said Associate Director Keith Frazier. Veterinarians say old-fashioned pet collars are fine, but not foolproof. They can come off, fade, or be chewed. The chips are a boon to emergency room veterinarians, who often treat injured animals that don't have identifying information. Vets then face the tough choice of putting the animal to sleep or administering costly care with no hope of getting paid. With a microchipped pet, the pet's owner can make that decision. "For an emergency vet, it's fabulous," said
Dr. Jeffrey Proulx of The chips have a variety of applications. Officials at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race use them
to help prevent illegal dog substitutions. Valuable horses are sometimes
injected instead of branded. In Professional football player Damon Moore, of the
Philadelphia Eagles, was charged last month with abandoning his 3-month-old
Rottweiler puppy after police found the dog and the SPCA traced the microchip
to the pet shop where The next-generation microchip will be equipped with a sensor that reads body temperature eliminating the need for a rectal thermometer. Down the road, chips will be able to store information useful in an emergency such as whether a dog has had a rabies shot or is allergic to any medicine. But chipmakers say it's likely that most information will continue to be stored in a database. Could human microchip implantation be far behind? Some say it's inevitable. A British researcher had a chip
in his arm for nine days in 1998, and But for now, it's Rover who has the chip in his shoulder. "Stewie used to have a tag," said McCallion, rubbing his newly microchipped dog's head, "but his brother Murphy bit it off." |
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Human computer chip studied WASHINGTON (AP) A Florida technology company is poised to ask the government for permission to market a first-ever computer ID chip that could be embedded beneath a person's skin. For airports, nuclear power plants and other high security facilities, the immediate benefits could be a closer-to-foolproof security system. But privacy advocates warn the chip could lead to encroachments on civil liberties. The implant technology is another case of science fiction evolving into fact. Those who have long advanced the idea of implant chips say it could someday mean no more easy-to-counterfeit ID cards nor dozing security guards. Just a computer chip about the size of a grain of rice that would be difficult to remove and tough to mimic. Other uses of the technology on the horizon, from an added device that would allow satellite tracking of an individual's every movement to the storage of sensitive data like medical records, are already attracting interest across the globe for tasks like foiling kidnappings or assisting paramedics. Applied Digital Solutions' new "VeriChip" is another sign that Sept. 11 has catapulted the science of security into a realm with uncharted possibilities and also new fears for privacy. "The problem is that you always have to think about what the device will be used for tomorrow," said Lee Tien, a senior attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocacy group. "It's what we call function creep. At first a device is used for applications we all agree are good but then it slowly is used for more than it was intended," he said. Applied Digital, based in "The line in the sand that we draw is that the use of the VeriChip would always be voluntarily," said Keith Bolton, chief technology officer and a vice president at Applied Digital. "We would never provide it to a company that intended to coerce people to use it." More than a decade ago, Applied bought a competing firm, Destron Fearing, which had been making chips implanted in animals for several years. Those chips were mainly bought by animal owners wanting to provide another way for pound workers to identify a lost pet. Chips for humans aren't that much different. But the company was hesitant to market them for people because of ethical questions. The devastation of Sept. 11 solidified the company's resolve to market the human chip and brought about a new sensibility about the possible interest. "It's a sad time ... when people have to wonder
whether it's safe in their own country," The makers of the chip also foresee it being used to help emergency workers diagnose a lost Alzheimer's patient or access an unconscious patient's medical history. Getting the implant would go something like this: A person or company buys the chip from Applied Digital for about $200 and the company encodes it with the desired information. The person seeking the implant takes the tiny device about the size of a grain of rice, to their doctor, who can insert it with a large needle device. The doctor monitors the device for several weeks to make sure it doesn't move and that no infection develops. The device has no power supply, rather it contains a millimeter-long magnetic coil that is activated when a scanning device is run across the skin above it. A tiny transmitter on the chip sends out the data. Without a scanner, the chip cannot be read. Applied Digital plans to give away chip readers to hospitals and ambulance companies, in the hopes they'll become standard equipment. The chip has drawn attention from several religious groups. Theologian and author Terry Cook said he worries the identification chip could be the "mark of the beast," an identifying mark that all people will be forced to wear just before the end times, according to the Bible. Applied Digital has consulted theologians and appeared on the religious television program the "700 Club" to assure viewers the chip didn't fit the biblical description of the mark because it is under the skin and hidden from view. Even with the privacy and religious concerns, some are already eager to use the product. Jeff Jacobs in Jacobs suffers from a number of serious allergies and wants to make sure medical personnel can diagnose him. "They would know who to contact, they would know what medications I'm on, and it's quite a few," he said. "They would know what I'm allergic to, what kind of operations I've had and where there might be problems." Applied Digital says technology to let the chip to be used for tracking is already well under development. Eight Latin American companies have contacted Applied Digital and have openly encouraged the company to pursue the internal tracking devices. In some countries, kidnapping has become an epidemic that limits tourism and business. Copyright
2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAU1J92NZC.html
Tampa Tribune site
Company to Sell ID-Only
Computer Chip Implant
Published:
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WASHINGTON
(AP) - A company plans to begin selling a computer ID chip that can be embedded
beneath people's skin, now that the Food and Drug Administration has said it
will not regulate the implant as long as it contains no medical data.
Applied Digital Solutions
Inc. designed the VeriChip - about the size of a grain of rice - to hold
information that could be read with special electronic scanners. The company
has touted the chip as a potential way to hold a person's medical records or
security codes.
Applied Digital had held off
sales pending discussions with the FDA of whether an implanted chip would be
considered a medical device. If the chip solely provides
identification, it needs no FDA clearance, the agency confirmed Thursday -
advice officials have long given others developing ID for tracking children,
prisoners or workers with top-security clearances.
But, "if they put
medical records in, we would be concerned about the use," said the FDA's
medical device chief, Dr. David Feigal, who made clear that the agency could
step in at that point.
If someone is unconscious in
an emergency room and implanted medical records are outdated, that could be
more dangerous than if doctors had no information, he said. Feigal urged
companies considering such health-related implants to consult with the FDA.
For now, the VeriChip will
bear only an identification number, said David Hughes of Technology Sourcing
International, a consulting firm helping Applied Digital in its discussions
with the FDA. But that ID code could be cross-referenced with a database to
detail any kind of information.
The company said production
would begin immediately.
VeriChip emits a radio
signal and has been derided by some for its "Big Brother"
implications. Applied Digital has said it could prove invaluable in emergency
situations when someone is either unconscious or cannot otherwise give
information.
VeriChip is expected to sell
for about $200. A scanner used to read information contained in the chip would
cost between $1,000 and $3,000. A doctor would insert the chip with a large
needle-like device.
AP-ES-04-04-02 1524EST