I like to use this time of year to reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of the past year. Paw Print Genetics (PPG) was founded only a few short years ago, launching our first set of canine disease tests in 2013. Our commitment to excellence in both testing accuracy and customer service quickly propelled us to the top of the canine testing industry. In no other testing laboratory can you find the highly skilled staff of veterinarians and PhD geneticists eager to help answer your questions and guide you to the useful and informative testing that you need for your breeding program. Aiming to be the best, our web-based ordering system is unparalleled in the industry. This didn’t happen by chance, as we continuously talked to our customers about how we could improve our systems and deliver a product that was user friendly and met their high standards, comparable to their own breeding principles.
This year was not without its challenges, but overcoming obstacles makes us stronger. We ended litigation over PRA-prcd and CEA, allowing us to be listed as an approved laboratory with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. Fighting for our customers’ rights to have a choice in laboratory testing was a huge accomplishment for us and for all breeders. We are proud that we took on this challenge and succeeded in our vision of providing the most comprehensive testing menu with the highest accuracy in the industry.
Being a young, fast growing company requires us to monitor resources and recognize any areas needing improvement. Priding ourselves on being available and accessible to our customers, we added two additional customer care representatives to our organization. This allows us to provide better service to you over the phone and respond to email inquiries even faster than before.
With the input from our customers, we added the new services of Veterinary Verified reporting option and Clear by Parentage certificates. One of our customers started a Facebook page, Friends Who Like Paw Print Genetics, that has quickly grown to more than 850 members. This page provides a forum for customers to asks PPG questions but also provides a platform for PPG to test new ideas and get input on our services.
Other accomplishments include our recently launched SNP-based DNA profiling and parentage testing. Run with nearly 100 markers, this method allows us much higher confidence in our proof of parentage testing and now provides you results in 14 days or less (rather than the traditional 3-4 weeks this test normally takes to complete). In addition, we published our research on the Cesky fousek with the help of the Bohemian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Club of America. Finally, our testing results are now accepted by The Kennel Club of the UK.
It’s been quite a year! With all these accomplishments, I can’t believe how fast time flies. And now a sneak peek into 2017. I am happy to share with you that we will be launching several new tests in the new year, including some long anticipated and highly welcomed disease tests. We will be enhancing our pet dog offering, the Canine HealthCheck, with additional disease tests and an expanded appearance profile, and will continue to make improvements to our website to enhance your experience.
Thank you for all of your support this year and we look forward to working with you in 2017. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and very happy New Year!
Lisa G. Shaffer, PhD
CEO, Paw Print Genetics