ID numbers should be in a searchable database

While microchips were helpful in reuniting horses with owners after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it was generally because owners had proof of horses’ microchip numbers. Since 1994, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) has required Coggins or equine infectious anemia tests to be linked with permanent identification of horses, including microchips, tattoos, or freeze/hot brands. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) has not always maintained an efficient, searchable database of ID numbers that could be used as a reference in an emergency; due to lost manpower, the database wasn’t updated for two years prior to Katrina. LDAF officials say they now are updating and improving accessibility of that data. 

Bonnie Clark, president of the Louisiana Equine Council (LEC), headed the hurricane equine staging facility at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., last September. She and other volunteers helped reunite more than 360 horses with their owners. The majority of horses had microchips that were scanned upon arrival to the facility; most Katrina horses were claimed using Coggins papers.

In most cases, Clark researched chips to verify ownership by contacting manufacturers with the chip numbers. One company (Avid) was able to link veterinarians’ names to microchip numbers. (These veterinarians had sent records to the company when after implanting the chips.)From there, veterinarians helped Clark identify horses by sifting through their practices’ Coggins test records and matching numbers. Some horses were alive and well at Lamar-Dixon; in other cases veterinarians went out to hurricane-impacted areas to scan dead horses’ microchips