Since the announcement that we ended our litigation over the gene patents for progressive retinal atrophy (prcd), collie eye anomaly, congenital stationary night blindness in Briards, and retinal dysplasia/oculoskeletal dysplasia in Labradors, there has been a huge outpouring of encouragement and congratulations from our customers. At Paw Print Genetics, we are all very touched by this support.
I have also received a number of emails from customers worried that we may raise our prices because of this new sublicense. I have even seen this question debated on Facebook and understand the concern. As you can imagine, the lawsuits from the past couple of years were expensive. We paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to support our cases. Last year, we won our case in Federal court and the patent for exercise-induced collapse (EIC) was invalidated. This allowed our customers to register their EIC results with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA), but also cleared the way for other laboratories to offer this test without fear of litigation, even though they did not participate in the lawsuits or help fund our cause. As we are recovering from these huge litigation costs, we are doing all that we can not to raise our prices so that we can continue to provide the most accurate results in the industry with the best customer service possible at the most affordable price. Where else can you speak with a veterinarian or PhD geneticist whenever you have a question? What other laboratory provides you with a user-friendly account management system and a way to voluntarily and freely display your dogs’ results? We won’t compromise on our service to you.
How can you help?
There are many ways in which you can help support us to ensure that we continue to grow and innovate to build a stronger company for you and for the future.
- Friend referrals. Friend referrals continue to be the number one way people hear about us. Tell all your friends about your experience with us. Encourage them to do genetic testing with Paw Print Genetics.
- Keep all your testing in one place. We pride ourselves on one-stop-shopping for all of your testing needs. With the largest menu of disease, coat color and trait testing available anywhere, keeping your testing with us will help ensure a stronger future. Our online account management system is unparalleled in the industry and allows you to keep track of all of your dogs, all of their testing and also allows you to share or move your dogs to co-owners or new owners. No other laboratory provides such an excellent way to keep you organized.
- Post on social media. Post on your Facebook page about your experience with us. Tag Paw Print Genetics or one of our directors or customer service representatives on your posts. Recommend us to your Facebook friends and post a 5-star review on our Facebook page. Like and share our posts on Facebook!
- Share our newsletter. Sign up for our newsletter from our home page or from Facebook. Share our blogs and promote our sales to your friends by forwarding our newsletter and by posting on Facebook by clicking the link in each newsletter.
- Promote us to your local clubs. Talk to the clubs that you belong to and promote us to your members. Ask your club to make Paw Print Genetics their preferred testing provider. Paw Print Genetics would be delighted to provide your club's members discounted testing throughout the year. We will even put your club’s logo on our Partner’s Page. We would love the opportunity to be more involved in your club's events.
- Encourage your national parent club to partner. Paw Print Genetics is honored to have partnered with many parent breed clubs to provide genetic testing to their members at discount prices. As a preferred provider to these parent clubs, we provide discount testing throughout the year, talk with their health committees about how we can work together to improve the breed, provide resources and support for health clinics, promote and support your national specialty, and we often provide gift certificates for testing to be used as raffle items to raise money. Talk to your national breed club about how we can work together.
- Invite us to your health clinic. Paw Print Genetics has participated in many breed-specific and all breed health clinics. If we can't be onsite, we will send the kits needed to collect samples at your clinic. Because of our large menu of tests for more than 200 breeds, there will be something for everyone at even the most diverse, all breed health clinic. We make it easy on you to collect the samples and will also provide discounts to make the testing more affordable for your participants.
- Get involved. Paw Print Genetics exists because of you, the responsible breeder that uses genetic testing to improve their breeding program and their breed. Give us your feedback! How can we improve our service to you? What tests would you like us to include for your breed? Tell us. We want to hear from you!
- Get connected. Connect with me on Facebook, twitter or email me at lshaffer@pawprintgenetics.com Connect with Paw Print Genetics on Facebook, twitter or email at AskUs@pawprintgenetics.com
- Be an advocate. Be an advocate for your breed. Be an advocate for genetic testing. Be an advocate for Paw Print Genetics! With your support and your advocacy, we will be providing genetic testing for many, many years to come.
Thank you again for all of your support and for your business. We truly appreciate you. Please forward this letter to a friend and ask them to forward to another friend. Please post this letter to your Facebook page and ask your friends to share. Tell everyone who will listen to you that you use Paw Print Genetics for all of your genetic testing needs. Together we can keep genetic testing affordable.
We are here for you!
Sincerely yours,
Lisa G Shaffer, PhD, FACMG