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They're not just horsing around photo by Bob Pennell Brand inspector Denny Jones scans the identification implant in Bob Damon's quarter horse, Dexter, at the livestock auction in Central Point Friday. Brand inspection goes high-tech Not everyone's taken by microchip identification method By Alex Breitler Take a scene from the Old West, mix in a pinch of modern technology, and you've got a grasp of how Denny Jones' job has changed. In years past, Jones, a brand inspector, would visibly check each horse's seal of ownership. But a relatively new procedure of injecting horses with microchips now has him waving wands besides inspecting irons. Here's how it works: a microchip, only slightly larger than a grain of rice, is injected into a horse's neck. Each chip emits a radio frequency wave; with the swoosh of a scanner, an ID number -- unique to each animal -- is displayed within milliseconds. That way, if a horse is stolen, its identity -- and correct owner -- can easily be found, says Eric Keiser, a local veterinarian who performs the procedure. "The advantage is no cosmetic changes," he said. "Branded horses have marks, and some people don't like that." Jones, who inspects horses for ownership at the Rogue Valley Livestock Auction in Central Point before moving them out of the state, was given a $900 scanner this week so he can read the chips with a wave of his hand. It's the first time the technology will be available in this area. But that doesn't mean chips will replace traditional methods of horse identification. If you ask Jones, he'd just as soon stick to good old-fashioned branding, which he feels protects better against theft as it doesn't require a scanner to read. "That way, you've got something that's sticking out on the horse," Jones says. "They (thieves) might think twice if they see the horse has something definite on him." Jones prefers freeze branding, in which dry ice is used to freeze an area of the hide and turn it white. That brand identifies which rancher owns the horse, though it doesn't specify which horse it is. Doug McInnis, a Klamath Falls veterinarian and consultant for Avid, a chip manufacturing company, says the advantage to chips is they can't fail and won't go away. Each chip is coated with substances to avoid rejection from the horse's body and to keep the chip from moving about. "A brand could potentially fade or be altered," he said. "(Chips) are a great way to ID your horse." Avid, based in southern California, is one of three companies that make the chips -- the problem is, the three companies' chips send out different frequency waves, and many scanners can't read all of them. But the scanner donated to Jones this week is universal, meaning it reads all the other chips as well, McInnis says. The idea to get Jones a scanner came about when Keiser called McInnis and told him of increased interest in the chips in the Rogue Valley. McInnis arranged to have a scanner donated. Avid has also donated scanners to slaughterhouses across the United States and Canada so that horses -- some stolen -- may be checked for chips before being killed. At least a couple of vet clinics in the valley install microchips, including Crater Animal Hospital and the Rogue Valley Equine Hospital. The procedure costs from $35 to $40 with a $15 registration fee. Horses aren't the only animals to get microchips; dogs and cats are more commonly injected so their owners can keep track of them. The concept hasn't caught on everywhere, however. Don Hagglund, who boards and trains cutting horses in White City, says his animals are valuable enough that they don't need microchips. "If somebody stole one of my horses, it would be very easily recognized," he said. "The microchip probably has its place, but I don't know anyone in my end of the business that uses them." Jack Noble, field operations manager with the state Livestock Identification Division, says he also still thinks brands are the way to go. "There's a lot of horses out there, where if they're carrying a certain iron, it makes them worth a lot of money," Noble said. ``Brands are probably the best way to prevent theft." And the technology isn't widespread enough to work efficiently for most brand inspectors, he says. "We don't go looking for chips, we don't verify them -- at this point we don't have the capability," Noble said. "As far as our department's concerned, that is not proof of ownership." For McInnis, microchips and brands both have their place; put together, he says they make an effective tool against theft. "This doesn't replace branding," he said. "It adds on to it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA