Pawsitive I.D.™ is a DNA testing kit for dogs & cats. We provide a fast, easy, do-it-at-home DNA test kit that enables you to test for dozens of inherent, genetic diseases and obtain your pet's unique DNA fingerprint. It really is your pet's Pawsitive I.D.™
About Pawsitive ID ™
Pawsitive I.D.™ is easy! First, purchase Pawsitive I.D.™ at a participating veterinarian retailer or visit shop.pawsitiveid.net.
Our kit has everything you need to quickly take a DNA sample of your pet. By following the simple directions, take the cheek swab brush and rub against the inside of your pets mouth to collect cheek cells. Take the brush and place it in the provided sample envelope. Fill out the pet profile form , giving all pertinent information about your dog or cat.
Enclose the sample and pet profile in the enclosed postage paid envelope and drop in U.S. postal service mail. In about 2 weeks, you will receive your pet’s genotyping certificate. This document, suitable for framing, shows the information you provided on the pet profile and the results of the DNA testing.
Your pet’s DNA fingerprint is color coded at the top of the back panel of the certificate. The disease screenings will tell you if your pet tests positive, negative or is a genetic carrier of certain genetic diseases. Some are breed specific.
Along with your certificate is our interpretive guide explaining the results and what action you should take (if a positive or carrier result is listed) to ensure that your pet is well cared for.
Founder & CEO
Rick Dobbins founded Pinpoint DNA Technologies, Inc. in 2006. The Atlanta native, having a keen interest in genetics and DNA technology, saw a need to use DNA technology to help dog and cat owners to positively identify their pets. This need became painfully apparent after hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the Gulf Coast of the southeastern United States. The site of hundreds of pets in homeless shelters without any form of identification was heartbreaking. Developing a method where pet owners could identify their dog or cat in adverse situations became a mission. Along the way to developing the Pawsitive I.D.™ product, Dobbins discovered that in addition to using DNA to determine a pets genetic fingerprint, certain inherent, genetic diseases could also be screened for. By utilizing the VERISNP™ DNA SNIP testing procedure offered by DNA Diagnostics, Inc. of Timpson, Texas, Pawsitive I.D.™ could check dozens of these diseases.
Our Team
Pawsitive I.D.™ has a team of the finest genetic laboratories and professionals in the United States. Our primary lab is DNA Diagnostics, Inc./Shelterwood Laboratories in Timpson, Texas. www.dnadiagnostics.com. Operated by Dr. Melba Ketchum, Ph.D., DVM, DNA Diagnostics, Inc is a premier genetics laboratory specializing in animal genetics.
Along with her colleague, Dr. Gus Cothran of the Equine Genetics Lab located at Texas A&M University, Dr. Ketchum has a patented universal DNA screening method called VERISNP™ that can screen for a wide variety of inherent, genetic diseases in one, simple cheek swab test. Pawsitive I.D. has an exclusive agreement to use the VERISNP™ technique in the sampling of all dog & cat tests in the United States.
Dr. Melba S. Ketchum
Dr. Melba S. Ketchum grew up in Texas City, Texas. She is a Moody Scholar and attended Texas A&M University where she received her doctorate of Veterinary Medicine after five years at the university. She had a mixed veterinary practice until she founded DNA Diagnostics. Dr. Ketchum has shown horses extensively and has a ranch in Texas where she still maintains registered Quarter Horses and American Paint Horses as well as a herd of Charolais cattle. Dr. Ketchum is the president and founder of DNA Diagnostics, Inc. d/b/a Shelterwood Laboratories. Established in 1985, DNA Diagnostics has become a leader in all types of DNA testing including: human and animal forensics, human and animal paternity and parentage testing, disease diagnostics, trait tests, animal and human identity testing, species identification and sex determination. Most common species of animals are tested at DNA Diagnostics. Dr. Ketchum has also established a research program ranging from gene mapping to developing the VeriSNP™ (patent pending) platform for universal genetic evaluation in multiple species of animals. Other research includes genetics of disease, population genetics and other genetically important traits such as coat color in animals. Dr. Ketchum is a past three-term Chairperson of the International Society for Animal Genetics Equine Genetics Standing Committee. She has also been Dog Map Chairperson and a Committee member on the Dog and Cat Parentage Committee. She is currently the Treasurer for AFDAA, The Association of DNA Analysts and Administrators. Dr. Ketchum has a daughter and a son and lives on her Attoyac Valley Ranch in East Texas.
Dr. E. Gus Cothran
Dr. E. Gus Cothran was born and raised in Texas and graduated from El Paso-Burgess High School. From there Cothran went to North Texas State University in Denton where he obtained his BS and MS degrees in Biology. Cothran received his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Oklahoma in 1982. His Ph.D. research was on the genetics of speciation in ground dwelling squirrels. From OU, Cothran went to the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina. Here Cothran primarily was involved in population genetic studies of white-tailed deer. His next stop was the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Texas where Cothran worked on genetics of horses and a species of South American opossum. From here Cothran moved to the University of Kentucky in 1986. At UK Cothran was the Director of the Equine Parentage Testing and Research Laboratory and Research Professor in the Department of Veterinary Science. In 2006, Cothran moved to Texas A&M University where Cothran became a Clinical Professor in the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences which is in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science. Cothran has a genotyping laboratory that does typing of horses, cattle, dogs and cats. Cothran is involved in research in genetic mapping, genetics of specific characteristics (such as coat color and hereditary disease), population genetics and conservation genetics of rare breeds. Cothran is married and has a daughter and son.
Other noted geneticists include Dr. Dennis Reeder and his wife Dr. Bulbin Sunar Reeder.
Dr. Dennis Reeder
Dr. Reeder is a consultant in the biotechnology field with emphasis on quality assurance/quality control and validation of analytical systems. His background in physics, microbiology, analytical chemistry, and DNA forensic analysis has exposed him to a variety of cutting edge technologies. He was employed in the federal government at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland for 25 years. There, he led a group of 25 scientists working on such projects as DNA standards for human identity, DNA damage and repair mechanisms, purification of enzymes from microbial species, and conducting interlaboratory tests to assess laboratory measurement capabilities. He retired from federal service in 2000 to work at Applied Biosystems in Foster City, California. There, he managed R&D projects the culminated in the release of a multiplex PCR kit for human identification. He also helped establish collaborations leading to a biothreat detection system. He retired in 2005 and moved to Frisco, Texas to establish a consulting practice. He is the author/co-author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters and has 2 patents. His current interest is in SNP technology and applications to disease detection in animals.
Dr. Sunar Reeder
Dr. Sunar Reeder is a consultant in the biotechnology field with an emphasis on molecular genetics, DNA/RNA isolation/ cloning /sequencing, and in vivo and in vitro expression essays. She received her Ph.D. at Sussex University in England and worked as a lecturer and researcher at University College London, Medical School. Her background is in molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry. She worked in the field of human genetics for over 27 years, both in Europe and in the United States. She also worked at MIT, Boston, Massachusetts; University of Hamburg, Biochemistry Department, Germany; Marmara University, Medical School in Istanbul Turkey; Georgetown University, Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington DC; NIH and NIST in Maryland, and Stanford University Medical School in California. She retired in 2005 while she was a Professor and Dean at Inönü University Medical Faculty, Malatya Turkey. She is the author/co-author of 45 international peer-reviewed publications and 2 books on molecular genetics. She was mentor to 10 Ph.D. students. She has 8 years of administrative experience as Dean of the Nursing School. She moved to Frisco Texas with her husband in 2005. Her current interests are in cancer genetics and pharmacogenetics as well as SNP technology and its application to disease detection in humans and animals. Currently, she is working at Reeder Analytical Consulting.
