Animal ID system will tag all Maine livestock

MAINE - A new state program eventually will require all livestock to be tagged for rapid response to disease outbreaks.

Officials at the Maine Department of Agriculture's division of animal health are in the process of identifying locations that manage or hold animals and assigning them a "premises" identification number.

Judy Perry, program coordinator, said premises include veterinary clinics, stables and livestock markets as well as the backyard stables of people who have just one or two animals.

Perry said the program is an important first step to build a state and national animal identification system through the United States Department of Agriculture.

The program, known as IDME, would affect everybody who owns livestock -- even the hobbyist who owns a single horse or cow, Perry said.

Livestock included in IDME are cattle, horses swine, sheep, goats, poultry, deer, elk, llamas, alpacas and aquaculture.

Simone Kramer, who raises red deer on her farm in Sidney, said she heard about the program but thinks it's premature to say whether it would work, since the type of system to be used to identify the animals is still unclear.

Source: MaineToday