Tattoos

In the cattle industry today, identification is the most important tools used by ranchers. Identification is not only a must for selling animals, but also come in handy when a rancher needs to identify a calf from his/her own herd. Cattle identification has come a long way throughout the years, and a very common and reliable way of cattle identification now is tattoos. These tattoos will code for a farm name or breeder name and an animal’s registration number and are found in the animal’s ear.

This method of identification involves the use of needle points in the shape of letters and numbers to pierce the front surface of the ear. You rub special tattoo paste or ink into the pierced area. As the punctures heal, the ink or paste is trapped under the surface of the skin, and it shows up as the numbers/letters, which can be used when registering the animal. If you do the job properly, tattoos will remain in the ear throughout the life of the animal and they do not scar the animal.

But the cattle industry is not the only one that has become a fan of tattooing, many industries today use tattooing as a favourite way of identification.

Racehorses have been using tattoos for a very long time. It has become a custom that North American racehorses get tattoos in their upper lips so that owners and people working with these animals can identify them. This series of numbers and letters code for the animal’s birth date and registration number.

Many other animals get tattooed in order to identify them such as purebred rabbits (left ear) dogs(ear) and even geese (on their feet)

Tattooing animals is a great way of identifying them and is safe for the animals.