The original purpose as I understood it was to be able to track stolen animals. With todays market and the influx of free horses the highest its ever been, I don't think that is going to be a huge issue anymore. I do know that a few auction New Holland being one of the bigger ones on the east coast don't even have scanners. I'm not sure what other information is put into them that a vet would need access to, but again the biggest drawback would be locating someone with a scanner.