GOVERNMENT PLAN MAY LEAD TO CANCER IN BOTH FOOD ANIMALS AND PETS

A reporter for the Associated Press has revealed a series of studies that show that implanted microchips, also known as Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs), may cause cancer in animals. The studies indicate that RFIDs may have caused malignant, fast-growing, and lethal cancers in up to 10% of the study animals.

The studies had not previously received public notice, even when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved implanting RFIDs in humans as identification tags and to contain medical records. Seconding FDA's lack of concern, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved RFID devices for implanting in, or attaching to, millions of animals, as part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

The USDA plan for the National Animal Identification System calls for RFIDs to be implanted in horses, llamas, and alpacas, and for every cow to have an RFID tag attached to its ear. The laundry list of 29 species included in NAIS also includes chickens, pigs, sheep, and goats. Each animal's tag will contain its assigned 15-digit number that will identify it from all other livestock in the world. The plan does not distinguish between animals kept for human consumption, for recreation, or as pets. While the agency claims that the program is "technology neutral," all of the documents and implementation have focused on the use of RFIDs as the default form of identification. The potentially carcinogenic chip has been designated as the only approved device for cattle and horses.

Neither the FDA nor the USDA has publicly released a study showing the health benefits of NAIS. Opponents of NAIS have long maintained that NAIS will do little for disease control, while expanding government intrusion in the lives of animal owners and enriching the manufacturers of the RFID devices and computer and data systems necessary to implement the system. Many opponents of NAIS are concerned that both government agencies and the hi-tech industries may be ignoring evidence of adverse health effects, ultimately endangering humans, our livestock industry, and millions of pets across America.

Karin Bergener, an attorney with the Liberty Ark Coalition, says: "The NAIS is purported to be a system to aid officials in tracing back animal diseases to their source. But the government has produced no scientific evidence that it will aid in disease control. And now we have scientific evidence that it could actually cause disease in our animals, through the use of RFIDs!"

According to the AP report, cancer researchers contacted about the studies indicated that it is easier to inflict cancer on mice than it is in humans, but none of the researchers contacted thought that RFID should be implanted in humans until much further study determines that implanting the chips is safe. Meritt Lamb, also with the Liberty Ark Coalition and himself an animal owner, says: "We've been saying all along that the NAIS plan is ill-conceived and harmful. With these studies showing that RFIDs may cause cancer in our animals, we call on the USDA to immediately withdraw all approvals for implanting the chips in animals and stop funding the NAIS, as much of it is based on the use of these chips. It is inexcusable that USDA has spent over $100 million to implement this program, without having done a cost-benefit analysis that includes the health effects of the technology."

Liberty Ark Coalition has 100 organizations and over 1600 individual supporters, spanning the full political and geographic spectrum, that oppose NAIS. To learn more about NAIS, and what it means for farmers and consumers, visit www.libertyark.net.