‘Digital Angel’ tracks cows

A cow-tracking device created by a Minnesota company in the 1980s is seeing renewed popularity in Iowa and nationwide after the discovery of mad cow disease in the U-S. Digital Angel has a tracking device for cattle that keeps tabs on where the animals are and their health history. The company’s John Nieuwsma says they’ve suddenly become very popular. Nieuwsma says “it’s unbelievable how the phone is ringing. We’re getting a lot of calls that are interested in our company, but most importantly we’re getting a lot of calls from people who want to know how this could work and how it could have done a better job in locating an isolating the animal.” He says the device eventually evolved into the popular tracking chip for dogs and cats. Nieuwsma says there are approximately six-thousand lost pet recoveries in the United States every month because of the microchip. He says they’re testing a new device now in the U-K that’s thermo-sensitive. He says that is a form of temperature that we can scan from the microchip and get the animal’s body temperature. Digital Angel is also in the early stages of selling a chip that keeps constant tabs on an animal’s body temperature.