Future iris identification technology will identify and track horses
Global Animal Management, Inc. (GAM®), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and market a non-invasive biometric iris animal identification system using algorithms licensed from Iristrac, LLC, a Louisville Kentucky-based animal identification company. GAM will collaborate with Sarnoff Corporation to incorporate the algorithms in the development of the GAM-Cam, the first portable equine iris capture and identification device to identify and track horses. The GAM-Cam will be part of the animal identification solution, Eye-D™.
“GAM is committed to this groundbreaking service for the equine industry,” said Jim Heinle, president, Global Animal Management. “Eye-D will encourage the industry to rally around one common standard of uniquely identifying horses, and in the future, build upon those standards to make the industry function more efficiently and reliably.”
The GAM-Cam uses the unique features of an animal iris to establish an identification code in much the same way that iris identification has been perfected for humans. The technology has been a worldwide interest in the need for non-invasive, accurate, low cost alternatives to microchips, tattoos and phenotypic markings currently used by animal owners.
“Accessible and fraud resistant methods of identifying horses will facilitate a more uniform standard upon which the equine industry can build data and valuable information services,” added Heinle. “The Eye-D solution will enable transactions, registrations, health management and related industry management practices.”
“We are delighted to provide this technology to GAM,” said Daniel E. Stewart, chairman and co-founder of Iristrac, LLC. “We have spent the last ten years researching and developing this technology with the philosophy of under promising and over delivering. GAM has built the highway that this product needs to run on, and we look forward to working with them to bring iris identification to the equine industry.”
The GAM-Cam, to be developed in conjunction with Sarnoff Corporation, is a portable device that will quickly capture the image of the horse’s iris with a low visibility infrared light source. The non-invasive device will help reduce stress in horses, commonly associated with and brought on by present methods of identification, which include tattooing, microchipping and manually checking marks on horses.
“Animal identification is not nearly as efficient or as simple as it needs to be,” said Mark Clifton, vice president, Products and Services at Sarnoff Corporation. “We are pleased to join forces with GAM and apply our many decades of research and expertise in Iris recognition technology to develop the GAM-Cam for the equine industry.”
“The GAM-Cam will allow users to quickly and accurately identify horses without undue stress on the animal,” added Heinle. “The non-invasiveness of this device will present a friendlier method of animal identification compared to more invasive methods, and in turn, will help protect the health and well-being of the horse. We welcome the equine industry to become a part of this identification solution in an effort to perfect this product in which the industry has a strong hand in defining.”
The Eye-D solution incorporating the GAM-Cam will be on the market in late 2010.
About Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health
Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is a leader in research and dedicated to the development, production and marketing of innovative, high-quality animal-health products for all major farm and companion animal species. For more information about Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health visit: www.intervet.com and www.intervetusa.com.
Schering-Plough is an innovation-driven, science-centered global health care company. Through its own biopharmaceutical research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough creates therapies that help save and improve lives around the world. The company applies its research-and-development platform to human prescription and consumer products as well as to animal health products. Schering-Plough’s vision is to “Earn Trust, Every Day” with the doctors, patients, customers and other stakeholders served by its colleagues around the world. The company is based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA, and its website is www.schering-plough.com