30,000 Free "read-any-chip" scanners ( work for people as well as dogs) -- March 22, 2006

Ed: They sure would come in handy for humans in case of a crisis ...what a coincidence !

"The Crystal Import Corporation, the U.S. distributor of DATAMARS SA, a leading manufacturer of radio frequency identification microchips, today announced the donation of 20,000 scanners capable of reading or detecting both 134.2 kHz and 125 kHz microchips
[ Ed: same as for VeriChip for people ]

to shelters and veterinary hospitals across the nation. Additionally, The Crystal Import Corp. will offer a free scanner to up to 10,000 shelters and veterinarians with a purchase of 20 RFID microchips for a total commitment of 30,000 scanners."

"This announcement comes in response to recent action in Congress and through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that calls for appropriate regulations to allow for an open radio frequency identification technology system that would enable a scanner to read all microchips used for the identification (http://www.readallchips.com),of pets in the United States.

Currently APHIS is considering the adoption of the ISO (International Standards Organization) standard.

Banfield wholeheartedly supports a transition to the ISO standard and we applaud the Crystal Import Corporation's donation of scanners that can read the ISO 134.2 kHz and read or detect all the different 125 kHz microchips that we know of. As the U.S. moves forward in adopting an ISO standard, Crystal is taking the next crucial step with this donation; providing a way for shelters and veterinarians to obtain free scanners that can read virtually any chip," said Scott Campbell, DVM, Banfield Chairman and CEO."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060321/nytu093.html?.v=41