Ear tag be deferred to some later date. Pigs, cattle and sheep are frequently earmarked with pliers that notch registered owner and/or age marks into the ear. Mares on large horse breeding farms have a plastic tag attached to a neck strap for identification; which preserves their ears free of notches. Dairy cows are sometimes identified with ratchet fastened plastic anklets fitted on the pastern for ready inspection during milking; however NLIS requirements apply to cattle - including both dairy and beef animals. More commonly coloured electrical tape is used as short term ankle identifiers for dairy animals to identify when one
Ear candling candles do more harm than good. Their use should be discouraged." According to the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), ear candling is sometimes promoted with claims that the practice can "purify the blood" or "cure" cancer, but that Health Canada has determined the candles have no effect on the ear, and no health benefit; instead they create risk of injury, especially when used on children. In October 2007, US FDA issued an alert identifying ear candles (also known as ear cones or auricular candles) as "dangerous to health when used in the dosage or manner, or with the