Banfield, the Pet Hospital that operates through PETsMART Stores Inc., has temporarily discontinued implanting 134 kHz radio frequency identification microchips in animals at its facilities until legal issues are sorted out and universal scanners that can read the chip are made available to humane shelters throughout the United States, according to a Banfield assistant at a PETsMart store.

The Oregon-headquartered pet hospital had offered implantable RFID chips operating on 125 kHz frequency, but in February switched to the higher frequency because it transmits a stronger signal. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has established the international standard for the 134 kHz implantable RFID chips. One of Banfield's chip supplier didn't agree with its decision.

Banfield is being sued by American Veterinary Identification Device (AVID) over its decision to change the type of microchip it implants in animals. The suit filed in May alleges false advertising and unfair business practices. AVID accuses Banfield of failing to tell its customers there might not be scanners that can read the new, higher frequency chip, according to the Portland Tribune. A hearing on a preliminary injunction was scheduled in July in U.S. District Court in Southern California, but the outcome is not clear.

What's clear is Banfield employees received a company letter recently asking all pet clinics to discontinue implanting the 134 kHz RFID chips until further notice.

The animal tracking phenomena meant to protect consumers of meat and poultry may have begun with Holstein cattle after a Washington state cow was identified on Dec. 23 as having bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, but it quickly spread to domestic animals, even in the United States.

These grain-size microchips inserted with a needle under the skin in the back of the neck are for dogs and cats. Vets can implant the chip. Shelters have been using scanners to read the microchips, which contain a unique pet tracking number for dogs, cats, and other small animals. Until now, the major chip providers for small animals have been AVID and HomeAgain. Both providers operate chips in the 125 kHz frequency. But new chips this year have come on the market this year that cannot be read by scanners at most animal shelters across the country. Do animal shelters have the finanical budget to keep up with changing technology?

While there are providers in the United States that offer passive RFID chips for small animals, such as AllFlex USA, I find it interesting that many Canadian companies – AVID and Petheath Inc. – have penetrated sales into the United States.

Petheath, a pet insurance company offers a program called 24PetWatch in which the RFID chip is inserted into the dog or cat. The number on the tag is registered in its database. If the pet is lost, the tag can be read by a vet clinic or pet shelter. The tags are distributed through veterinarians, pet shelters, and Petco Animal Supplies Inc.

On July 29, Pethealth reported it would continue to offer in Canada free registration to pet owners with dogs and cats into its national pet recovery network 24PetWatch, launched in February 2003. The company claims it has registered into its database 16,000 pets with RFID devices from other manufactures in its recover network. Since February 2003, the company boasts more than 135,000 pets have been registered in the U.S. and Canada. But this particular release posted on the company Website indicates it’s “not for dissemination in the United States of America or to United States news wires services.”

Pethealth restated its free registration in Canada after Anitech Enterprises, operating under the name PetNet, one of five companies to provide RFID microchips in Canada, was recently fined $150,000 by the Competition Bureau for misleading pet owners through a deceptive mail campaign. More than 10% of pets registered in Pethealth’s 24PetWatch database in the United States are insured with one of its Pet Care Programs, according to its annual report released in December 2003. The report states that as of December 2003, pets registered in it 24PetWatch database totaled 62,922, of which 6,187 had purchased pet insurance.