Livestock branding
Fire signs are used to indicate horses and cattle. Branded mark belonging to an animal breed and - rarely, but with different characters - to an owner.
Earlier also people were branded: slaves in antiquity and slaves in America, criminals were branded a stigma as corporal punishment until the 19th century.
Fire signs were also set using a focal temple in geschlägerte wood or wood products. Nowadays, brand marks are used as a laser marking for identification at tachometers, fleece jackets, golf balls, hi-fi boards, jewels, dishes or tablets.
" Branding " as a synonym for porcelain marks and brand marks like other ceramics, such as of stoneware, earthenware, stoneware, are not being applied by branding iron, but by blind stamp, painting replacement or reprinting of a character before firing the ceramic.
The term "branding", which is used more recently for the establishment and development of a brand (see brand management ), goes back to the practice of drawing fire.
Fire signs in horses
At today's breed of fire (hot fire ) is fired, the fire signs by means of a hot iron. It forms scar tissue, making the sign remains visible. Alternatively (cold fire ) is burned in a sign in the upper layers of the skin during cold fire with a cooled by liquid nitrogen to about -80 ° C iron, which destroys the pigments in the cells. Through these damaged cells can only grow white fur at these points, that is, it remains the branding visible.
Most often they are found today in the horse race fires, which are awarded by a breed association. These are often supplemented with a number of fire, which is used for better identification. Furthermore, there are entry fires, which are used in registration in breeding records. In some breeds all animals a breeder are characterized by a breeder brand. With studs one speaks in this context of stud brand. Fire signs that indicate the owner, were used in free-running herds (eg herds of cattle in the western U.S. ).
In horses, fire sign mostly on the rear left hand (race fires) are attached. Other sites are the right hind ( stud fires), saddle position ( number fires), side of the neck ( registration fires) and the jowls ( Lipizzaner ).
Brand characters in horse breeding
Arabian thoroughbred
German Sport Horse To Arrow crooked serpent
Hanoverian
Holsteiner
Oldenburg
Polish Warmblood foals fire
Polish Warmblood registration fire
Heavy Warmblood Breeding Association in Saxony- Thuringia
Westphalia fires
Cold fire of a racehorse
Controversy
Since the introduction of the microchip for identification of horses burning gets increasingly into the focus of an animal protection law discussion.
More unity consists in the assessment of the fire to other parts of the body because the neck fire, the fire in the saddle area and the fire on the ganache cause more frequent complications.
Arguments against the leg fire
The leg fire is controversial in the scientific world. Animal rights activists and parts of veterinarians perform on that leg of the fire in foals caused third-degree burns. The young animals often showed for weeks and pain symptoms are often confused after the injury by the hot fire, her suction and play behavior was affected.
A study by the University of Copenhagen estimated the burning of the Animals painful than the injection of a microchip.
When burning error could undermine, thus the fire could be difficult to read in the long term.
Arguments for the leg fire
Pages dermatology is listed that the outer skin of mammals is evolutionarily prepared for injury. The short-and long -term effects of Chippens a transponder on health and psyche of the horse is, however, unknown. The implantation of chips can lead to serious complications.
The shank can fire the skin in the region of the fire was indeed scarred, but there were no signs of inflammation to find. Unlike this was when chipping: The chip would be covered as a foreign body tissue associated with inflammatory processes. Skin injuries, such as when burning would heal easily. In contrast, the body feel the chip lifetime disturbing. In the worst case it formed purulent ulcers to get rid of the chip.
In addition, the migration of the microchip is listed in the horse's body as an argument. Some chips are no longer locate it after some time. Other wandered for example in the vicinity of the neck, which would cause problems if the horse is to bend the neck.
Legal
Fire signs are permitted as a method of marking and identification of horses according to the Animal Welfare Act. The associated with the burning, and pain associated with destruction of tissues are indeed according to § 6 para 1 sentence 1 Animal Welfare Act ( Animal Welfare Act ) prohibited. From § 6 para 1 sentence 2 No. 2 in connection with § 5 paragraph 3 No. 7 TierSchG follows destroy a vertebrate for the horse - leg fire an exception to the prohibition tissue. Other studies come to different conclusions.
In Denmark, the burning was banned in 2010.
The German Federal Minister of Agriculture Ilse Aigner in 2012 had an addition to the Animal Welfare Act introduced, which should lift the current exemption in the Animal Welfare Act with respect to the leg fire and should enter into force in autumn 2012. End of October 2012 was Christel Happach -Kazan, rural affairs in the FDP, citing that a ban on the fire character from the table is. The Bundestag decided to preserve the hot fire, until 2018, this should be done betäubungslos. From 2019 the hot fire should then be made in Germany, only under local anesthesia.