(PIC). They are complemented by movement documents supplied by consignors that are used for identification and tracking. Very small ear tags are available for laboratory animals such as mice and rats. They are usually sold with a device that pierces the animal's ear and installs the tag at the same time. Lab animals can also be identified by other methods such as ear punching or marking (also used for livestock; see below), implanted RFID tags (mice are too small to wear an ear tag containing an RFID chip), and dye. History Livestock ear tags were developed in 1799 under the direction of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, for identification of Merino sheep in the flock established for King George III. Matthew Boulton designed and produced the first batch of sheep eartags, and produced subsequent batches, modified according to suggestions received from Banks. The first tags were made of tin. Ear tags were incorporated as breed identification in the United States with the forming of the International Ohio Improved Chester Association as early as 1895, and stipulated in the Articles of Incorporation, as an association animal and breed identification, of the improved Chester White. Although ear tags were developed in Canada as early as 1913 as a means to identify cattle when testing for tuberculosis, the significant increase of use of ear tags appeared with the outbreak of BSE in UK. Today, ear tags in a variety of designs are used throughout the world on many species of animal to ensure traceability, to help prevent theft and to control disease outbreaks. The first ear tags were primarily steel with nickel plating. After World War II, larger, flag-like, plastic tags were developed in the United States. Designed to be visible from a distance, these were applied by cutting a slit in the ear and slipping the arrow-shaped head of the tag through it so that the flag would hang from the ear. In 1953, the first two-piece, self-piercing plastic ear tag was developed and patented. This tag, which combined the easy application of metal tags with the visibility and colour options of plastic tags, also limited the transfer of blood-borne diseases between animals during the application process. Some cattle ear tags contain chemicals to repel insects, such as buffalo flies, horseflies, etc. Metal ear tags are used to identify the date of regulation shearing of stud and show sheep.