RFID Chips in dogs is Russian roulette in a 'creepy' dog health issue way

RFID Chips in dogs is Russian roulette in a 'creepy' dog health issue way
GLENWOOD, Iowa, April 26 (NationalDogPress.com) --

The small implantable RFID microchips for dogs and humans that have generated concern from privacy experts and readers of revelations alike have now been associated with sarcoma formation in animals.

A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had "induced" malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats.

"The transponders were the cause of the tumors," said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.

Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.
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Published in veterinary and toxicology journals between 1996 and 2006, the studies found that lab mice and rats injected with microchips sometimes developed subcutaneous "sarcomas" -- malignant tumors, most of them encasing the implants.

- A 1998 study in Ridgefield, Conn., of 177 mice reported cancer incidence to be slightly higher than 10 percent -- a result the researchers described as "surprising."

- A 2006 study in France detected tumors in 4.1 percent of 1,260 microchipped mice. This was one of six studies in which the scientists did not set out to find microchip-induced cancer but noticed the growths incidentally. They were testing compounds on behalf of chemical and pharmaceutical companies; but they ruled out the compounds as the tumors' cause. Because researchers only noted the most obvious tumors, the French study said, "These incidences may therefore slightly underestimate the true occurrence" of cancer.

- In 1997, a study in Germany found cancers in 1 percent of 4,279 chipped mice. The tumors "are clearly due to the implanted microchips," the authors wrote.

RFID didn't need any more help in being creepy, but there are many reasons and assorted information that should be considered before an owner implants an RFID chip into their dog.

The things that are scary about RFID chips injected into dogs, are that this has been observed inadvertently in multiple studies, the cancers are repeatedly sarcomas, and based on what the researchers have said, directly associated with the RFID implant. It's enough that I would never agree to get an implant, not that I see any good reason to in the first place. Even a 0.01% risk of cancer would be crazy, since there isn't enough of a benefit to the technology to justify the risk of tens of thousands of cancers a year if the technology were widely adopted.

VeriChip or dog chip?


There are two glass encapsulated RFID tags pictured above. One is intended for human flesh, the other for the scruff of your pet's neck. Which is which?

Answer: The chip pictured at the top is VeriChip's VeriMed chip that former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson would like to see implanted in all Americans. Directly below the human chip is the animal chip marketed by Schering-Plough under the "Home Again" brand name.

There's no visible difference between the chips. They look the same, and they're both manufactured by subsidiaries of VeriChip's parent company Applied Digital Solutions. The whitish substance on the end of the chips is an anti-migration coating called "biobond" that encourages tissue growth so the chip doesn't move around inside of the animial--human, feline, or canine.

There is a technical difference between the chips that you wouldn't see with the naked eye. The pet chip contains a 10-digit number while the human chip contains a 16-digit number. I asked VeriChip spokesman John Procter why the human version contained 16-digits. His reply: "flexibility." He said the company wanted to ensure there would be enough unique numbers available for all the people it envisions chipping. Yikes!

Note: The VeriChip corporation tries to ease consumer fears by referring to the chip as being "about the size of a grain of rice." The rice in the photo above is long-grain rice--the longest grain I could find in my pantry. As you can see, the VeriChip is much larger.

RFID malware threatens an entire class of Pervasive Computing applications.

Developers of the wide variety of RFID-enhanced systems will need to armor their systems, to limit the damage that is caused once hackers start experimenting with RFID exploits, RFID worms, and RFID viruses on a larger scale. This paper has underscored the urgency of taking these preventative measures by illustrating the general feasibility of RFID malware, and by presenting the first ever RFID virus.

The spread of RFID malware may launch a new frontier of cat-and-mouse activity, that will play out in the arena of RFID technology. RFID malware may cause other new phenomena to appear; from RFID phishing (tricking RFID reader owners into reading malicious RFID tags) to RFID wardriving (searching for vulnerable RFID readers). People might even develop RFID honeypots to catch the RFID wardrivers! Each of these cases makes it increasingly obvious that the age of RFID innocence has been lost. People will never have the luxury of blindly trusting the data in their dog again.

False Sense of Security.

The majority of hack attacks exploit easy targets, and RFID systems are likely to be vulnerable because nobody expects RFID malware (yet); especially not in offline Dog implanted RFID chips. RFID middleware developers need to take measures to secure dogs from using these RFID chipping systems, and this investigative reporter hopes that this article will prompt the appropriate people to do that.

Enter the RFID Dog microchip.

The RFID Dog chip is a tiny transponder the size of a very large (or larger) grain of uncooked rice. This is a permanent radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip implanted under the dog's skin and read by a chip scanner or wand. Implantation is done with an injector that places the chip under the loose skin over the dog's shoulder.

The chip identification number is stored in a tiny transponder that can be read through the dog's skin by a scanner emitting low-frequency radio waves. The frequency is picked up by a tiny antenna in the transponder, and the number is retrieved, decoded, and displayed in the scanner readout window. The radio waves use a frequency much lower than AM broadcast stations use, and they must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission before they can be marketed.

The chip, antenna, and capacitor are encased in a tiny glass tube. The tube is composed of soda lime glass, which is known for compatibility with living tissue. The glass is hermetically sealed to keep moisture out.

Two companies, Schering-Plough Animal Health and AVID, share the bulk of the business of pet identification by microchip.

In 1996, Schering-Plough Animal Health, marketer of the HomeAgainâ„¢ microchip identification system, announced distribution of a universal scanner by Destron-Fearing* that can read all microchips and removed a major obstacle to widespread acceptance of pet identification with the new technology. Until then, no one scanner could read the chips of all the US manufacturers, a situation that impeded efforts to involve shelters in a national effort to return stray dogs to their owners through a chip program. The new scanners were given to thousands of shelters throughout the country so that quick and easy identification of those dogs with microchips could be achieved.

There are some drawbacks. AVID® encoded its chips so that the number cannot be read, even by the HomeAgain™ universal scanner. Unless the shelter has an AVID® scanner, the best it can do is identify that a chip from AVID® is present. Thus it is still necessary to have access to at least two scanners in order to assure that the chip number can be retrieved.

A few chips do move out of place and can't be found by the scanner, a problem that Schering-Plough's Destron system addressed with a polypropylene shell on the tip of its transponder. This coating bonds the transponder to the dog's subcutaneous tissue.

RFID Dog Chip Industry Frequency Changes.

Until February 2005, the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery affiliate served as the registry for the Schering-Plough HomeAgainâ„¢ system and accepted enrollments from other systems as well. At that time, Schering-Plough set up its own registration/recovery database. However, AKC/CAR continues to enroll microchipped animals from any system for $12.50.

The chips used by HomeAgain™ and AVID® work on a frequency of 125 kHz. Banfield the Pet Hospital, a chain of animal health clinics at PetsMart stores, tried to get into the market by selling chips that work on a frequency of 134 kHz, the standard chip used to identify livestock, zoo animals, and wildlife throughout the world. Scanners that read the 125 kHz chips cannot read the 134 kHz version. A lawsuit from AVID® blocked Banfield from selling its chip.

However, since the 134 kHz chip is standard in 150 countries and the US is part of the International Standards Organization governing scientific standards, the US Congress is considering an addition to the 2005 Agriculture Budget Bill that directs the US Department of Agriculture to write regulations to provide for the use of the 134 kHz chip and reading wands in the US.

Only veterinarians can implant HomeAgain™ chips. AVID® chips can be implanted by shelter personnel, individuals, or veterinarians. Breeders often use the AVID® system because the company offers incentives to chip entire litters, but puppy buyers should be aware that the scanners used by many veterinarians come from HomeAgain™ and cannot read the number on AVID chips. Costs vary with these systems depending on the number of dogs owned and whether the dog is enrolled in the national database.

At the moment, the Banfield chip cannot be implanted in the company's 500-plus animal clinics, but that situation is likely to change if Congress approves the recommendation to adopt the 134kHz chip. Included in the recommendation is a requirement to develop a true universal scanner that can read all chips.

What does this mean to pet owners and breeders? Not a lot. There's no reason to assume that federal approval of a standardized chip will result in a mandate to use that chip. Current databases will continue to enroll dogs. Shelters and veterinarians will continue to scan dogs with the wands they have now and will likely switch to the universal wand when it is developed. As in the past, companies are likely to donate scanners to shelters and rescues.

* Destron-Fearing changed its name to Digital Angel.Corporation.

Technical problems with RFID Standards

RFID has been implemented in different ways by different manufacturers; global standards are still being worked on. It should be noted that some RFID devices are never meant to leave their network (as in the case of RFID tags used for inventory control within a company). This can cause problems for companies.

Consumers may also have problems with RFID standards. For example, ExxonMobil's SpeedPass system is a proprietary RFID system; if another company wanted to use the convenient SpeedPass (say, at the drive-in window of your favorite fast food restaurant) they would have to pay to access it - an unlikely scenario. On the other hand, if every company had their own "SpeedPass" system, a consumer would need to carry many different devices with them.


RFID systems and RFID Chips can be easily disrupted by the electromagnetic spectrum.

Since RFID systems make use of the electromagnetic spectrum (like WiFi networks or cellphones), they are relatively easy to jam using energy at the right frequency. Although this would only be an inconvenience for consumers in stores (longer waits at the checkout), it could be disastrous in other environments where RFID is increasingly used, like hospitals or in the military in the field.

Also, active RFID tags (those that use a battery to increase the range of the system) can be repeatedly interrogated to wear the battery down, disrupting the system.

RFID Reader Collision

Reader collision occurs when the signals from two or more readers overlap. The tag is unable to respond to simultaneous queries. Systems must be carefully set up to avoid this problem; many systems use an anti-collision protocol (also called a singulation protocol. Anti-collision protocols enable the tags to take turns in transmitting to a reader. (Learn more about RFID reader collision.)

RFID Tag Collision

Tag collision occurs when many tags are present in a small area; but since the read time is very fast, it is easier for vendors to develop systems that ensure that tags respond one at a time. (Learn more about RFID tag collision.)

Security, privacy and ethics problems with RFID

The following problems with RFID tags and readers have been reported.

- The contents of an RFID tag can be read after the item leaves the supply chain

- An RFID tag cannot tell the difference between one reader and another. RFID scanners are very portable; RFID tags can be read from a distance, from a few inches to a few yards. This allows anyone to see the contents of your purse or pocket as you walk down the street. Some tags can be turned off when the item has left the supply chain; see zombie RFID tags.

- RFID tags are difficult to remove

- RFID tags are difficult to for consumers to remove; some are very small (less than a half-millimeter square, and as thin as a sheet of paper) - others may be hidden or embedded inside a product where consumers cannot see them. New technologies allow RFID tags to be "printed" right on a product and may not be removable at all (see Printing RFID Tags With Magic Ink).

- RFID tags can be read without your knowledge

Since the tags can be read without being swiped or obviously scanned (as is the case with magnetic strips or barcodes), anyone with an RFID tag reader can read the tags embedded in your clothes and other consumer products without your knowledge. For example, you could be scanned before you enter the store, just to see what you are carrying. You might then be approached by a clerk who knows what you have in your backpack or purse, and can suggest accessories or other items.

- RFID tags can be read a greater distances with a high-gain antenna

For various reasons, RFID reader/tag systems are designed so that distance between the tag and the reader is kept to a minimum (see the material on tag collision above). However, a high-gain antenna can be used to read the tags from much further away, leading to privacy problems.

- RFID tags with unique serial numbers could be linked to an individual credit card number

At present, the Universal Product Code (UPC) implemented with barcodes allows each product sold in a store to have a unique number that identifies that product. Work is proceeding on a global system of product identification that would allow each individual item to have its own number. When the item is scanned for purchase and is paid for, the RFID tag number for a particular item can be associated with a credit card number.

Conclusion:

If you geek out your dog with these high-tech injected under the fur-skin RFID Chips, it is like playing Russian roulette in a 'creepy' dog health issue total sense of the word. Not only is the dog owner placing a high risk of introducing a cancer causing agent into the dog's body, but the potential for electromagnetic interference with the RFID frequencies just very well may cause numerous unidentified behavioral problems with your dog as well.

There just are not enough well documented long term studies to make a rational decision in using the RFID chips in dogs, or not. Is it really worth the risk of your dog's welfare and health, as opposed to using the numerous and excellent devices to identify a lost dog, 'without' injecting the RFID chip device under the fur-skin of your dog.

Bottom Line: RFID chips in dogs is scarier than any dog identity theft. The intentional introduction of an RFID chip that has been readily identified with numerous studies that RFID chips do cause cancer growths is just plain not worth the risk of doggie Russian roulette in health issues.

© NationalDogPress.com Headline News

Article by Dean A. Ayers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Animals_Club_Freedom/message/8177

Dean A. Ayers is a prior United States Air Force Special Agent for the AFOSI. His duties included that of law enforcement specialist, criminal, fraud, and counter-intelligence. He was assigned to felony crimes in federal government, fraud, waste and abuse investigations of the military branches of service, and counter-intelligence in overseas locations. Dean was also a former Texas State Commissioned Alamo State Park Armed Ranger.

Dean is currently Director, Animals C.L.U.B.- Freedom National Organization and Dean is also a Lead Investigative Reporter for the NationalDogPress.com Headline News ©, DogPress.org, and Animalid.biz news press services.

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