‘Serious shortcomings’ in brand recognition
The effectiveness of Equus caballus branding is a hitting as well as missy affair, Austrian researchers suggest.
Their findings cast doubtfulness on assertions past times many Equus caballus breeders who claim branding represents the best method for identifying their horses.
The enquiry was carried out among growing concerns around bear witness suggesting branding foals causes the animals stress.
Although the combat over branding has raged for some time, Austrian researchers went off on a dissimilar tack, posing the question: how reliably tin build marks last read later?
Jörg as well as Christine Aurich, at the University of Veterinary Medicine, inwards Vienna, conducted a written report on build recognition, the findings of which possess got just been made available online inwards “The Veterinary Journal”.
Brands on horses inwards Europe oftentimes combine a symbol to betoken the item breed amongst a two-digit number to position the private animal.
To assess the readability of the markings, the researchers asked 3 experienced people to tape the brands of nigh 250 horses participating inwards an equestrian tournament inwards Germany.
All 3 testers were able to recognize the breed symbols on nigh xc per cent of the animals, as well as for nigh 84 per cent of the animals the symbol was recorded correctly past times all 3 people.
However, the province of affairs for the two-digit numbers was dramatically different. While each of the 3 readers read the numbers correctly on nigh one-half of the horses, the right number was recorded past times all 3 of them for less than xl per cent of the animals.
To assess the legibility of build marker nether “ideal” conditions, the researchers examined the markings on 28 horses that had been euthanized, inwards each representative for reasons non related to branding.
Surprisingly, the build marks could last clearly identified on solely nine of the animals, spell for vi horses neither the build symbol nor the two-digit number could last deciphered fifty-fifty after the site of branding (generally the left thigh but inwards 2 cases the left side of the neck) had been shaved.
This finding confirmed the unreliability of marker horses past times branding.
At the same time, the researchers naturally examined the sites where the horses had been branded for bear witness of tissue damage. Nearly all of the horses had tissue changes at the branding sites, consistent amongst having experienced a third-degree thermal injury.
Professor Jörg Aurich said: “Branding is clearly associated amongst local tissue impairment as well as the markings are oftentimes insufficiently clear to last decoded, fifty-fifty past times experienced observers or after the Equus caballus has died. There actually isn’t whatever argue to move along to score horses inwards this outdated way.”
The yoke acknowledged at that spot were many reasons why it was of import to last able to position farm animals, horses as well as pocket-size companion animals.
Unique identification marks were essential for ensuring the correctness of breeding programmes, for preventing the spread of illness as well as for eliminating the possibility of deceit inwards competitions or when animals are sold, they said.
Until recently, horses were to a greater extent than oftentimes than non branded, but next concerns that the practise was unnecessarily savage at that spot has been a gradual switch to microchips inwards several major horse-breeding nations.
Branding, they note, has essentially been discontinued inwards the European Union, although several countries even as well as thence bring it as well as breed registries claim that this traditional method is perfectly satisfactory as well as obviates the demand for costly equipment.
The newspaper “Readability of branding symbols inwards horses as well as histomorphological alterations at the branding site” past times Jörg Aurich, Peter Wohlsein, Manuela Wulf, Marina Nees, Wolfgang Baumgärtner, Mareike Becker-Birck as well as Christine Aurich has merely been published online inwards “The Veterinary Journal”. The champaign move was carried at the Graf Lehndorff Institute for Equine Science, a articulation enquiry unit of measurement of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria, as well as the Brandenburg State Stud at Neustadt (Dosse), Germany. The postal service mortem analysis was performed at the Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany.
Abstract of the scientific article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.07.006
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