The article discusses four different studies in which lab rats developed cancerous tumors at the site of the microchip. All tumors developed during the second year of the study, according to the published reports. Additionally, a male dog is reported to have been diagnosed as having these same kinds of cancer tumors around a microchip he was carrying.
USESR asked our many friends in the small animal rescue industries. They all agreed that the benefits of microchipping dogs and cats are worth the risk, because those animals tend to wander off so often.
Horses do not wander off very often, and when they do, they are easy to identify because there are not hundreds of other horses roaming around loose with them like there are in the case of dogs and cats. At present, the only reason to microchip a horse is to be able to identify and re-claim it after it is recovered from being stolen. Microchips are not a theft deterrent. Not all readers read all of the different brands of chips. At slaughterhouses, no one even looked for the presence of a microchip until after the horse was slaughtered.
Although horses do not wander off, when they are recovered they can be difficult to positively identify, as so many bays and Palominos (and other colors) exist. It would be terrible to know where your stolen horse was, and not be able to prove that the horse is, indeed, yours. Unless, of course, the horse was wearing a brand of some sort.
Branding does not cause cancer. On the other hand, there has been no conclusive proof that microchips do cause cancer, with the key word being, “proof”. Each of the studies mentioned in the article was cut off once the mice developed cancer.
As horse owners, we must be aware of both the benefits and the risks of everything we put into, or use on, our equine. Microchips are no different and that is why the United States Equine Sanctuary & Rescue is calling for more studies on the effects of implanted microchips.
