1. A method for animal identification, comprising: obtaining an image of an eye of an animal including a pupil region and an iris region; extracting a set of pixel data from the image, the set of pixel data representing an upper region of interest of the iris region above the pupil region and a lower region of interest of the iris region below the pupil region, the upper region of interest and the lower region of interest having parallel side boundaries that are spaced apart a distance that is substantially independent of a degree of dilation of the pupil region; and transforming the set of pixel data representing the upper region of interest and the lower region of interest into a template of the upper region of interest and the lower region of interest, the template for use in identifying the animal.