How long is the wait time on this?

[kate battista]

“Heather moorefeild calling people entitled and getting something for nothing is incorrect and insulting…we did do something, we filled out a lot of surveys and sent in samples and were promised the DNA results for our dogs.”

Not incorrect. You participated in a research study through a university. It was never promised that you would receive results in a time frame that pleases you. A modicum of common sense would tell you that a research project funded by outside grants is unpredictable. Sure you swabbed your dog’s cheek and clicked some check boxes but the people running this study are also working hard. Not only are they working hard, but they get emails and forum posts berating them for not working fast enough from folks filled out a few surveys and now seem to think they’re a supervisor.

People want more research for canine health but apparently don’t want to wait for it to be done properly.

[brittney logan]

Thank you for the support Kate!

We certainly are doing our best to try and make this research run more smoothly and quickly. As you so kindly mentioned, this is research and we want to make sure that it is done right so we can provide you and others with the most information as possible!

That is why we made Darwin’s Ark into a non-profit so owners have to OPTION to fund their dogs sample(s), avoiding the wait times.

Feedback is great though, as we do want to make sure we are making the new changes as clear as possible, we just ask that it is done in a kind and constructive manner. 🙂

[brenda zizza]

Battista, time to get off ur high horse. Ur reading things into my comment that are not there. U need to to understand the facts not ur imagination. Darwin DOGS advertised free results from DNA kits. No where did it say it would take years. Common sense should tell u ALL those angry posts from so many people is because they were mislead, period. And the emails that just showed up saying if u want ur results now instead of years will cost u anywhere from $99 to $1999. Seriously……and Brittany Logan….u saying….as u, battista, so kindly mentioned….she was not kind. She was rude and wrong and u condone this type of attitude. Shame on ur double standard. Just admit that changing the website doesn’t cover up the facts. There is a reason so many people are upset, use some common sence on that.

[kristen johnson 2]

Brenda, I can understand your being frustrated but I think they are truly doing the best they can. They didn’t have the funding to be able to process all the DNA kits and there was nothing they could do about that. They relied on a set amount from grants. Now that they are a non-profit and can take donations they may get more funding and we may see an increase in the amount of DNA kits they are able to process. We should give them a chance. They did make this change and so they’re clearly actively working to correct the issue. There was just nothing they could do without the funding. I think it has to be frustrating for them as well. They want the information as much as we do.

[heather moorefield]

We are fortunate that we are getting results back at all. If people have sick dogs and they think genetic testing will help, then they should pay to have genetic testing specific to the disease process done to get relevant results back faster. Darwin’s Ark doesn’t have to give us results. When I signed up years ago, it was stated that we may not even get the results, but that they hoped to make it happen. Just enjoy the fact that you’re contributing to research that could help a lot of animals in the future and that you will eventually get the results without paying for anything.

[jamie wagner]

I did donate earlier this week. Only because it is a cause I feel strong about. HOWEVER that does not mean I support them opening up research for other species (cats) until they get caught up on their backlog. So now that they have my $100 lets see how long it will take for them to sequence my beautiful goofball!

And to those who think that I was complaining about the wait time, please read my original post. I am more concerned and upset that they have a huge back log and not enough grants to run samples they already have and that have been sitting for years yet they are expanding to include other species and starting new projects. That is just asking for issues. I can see the issues now- cats accidently getting ran for canine sequencing, samples getting processed incorrectly, lost/misplaced samples because they were placed on the wrong shelf or in the wrong room- the list can go on for miles. Rule 1 of any project is to perfect it prior to expanding. And actually knowing they are trying to expand was the shove I needed to donate to have my Bastian’s DNA expedited- I don’t want it sitting there getting lost or misplaced or forgotten. But like I said, lets see how long it will take. As of now it has not moved from received and waiting to be sequenced.

[jamie wagner]

@ Heather Moorefield & Kathleen Morrill – Please go troll elsewhere – on someone else’s post or better yet on another website entirely. You obviously did not read my entire original post as I was not as concerned about the wait time as I was them opening up additional research projects with such a great backlog. “…especially because you obviously have enough money to update your website and include more research project. I am just curious of the ETA at this stage in the game. One would think that you would focus on analyzing the samples you have prior to adding more species to the research project.” Maybe I should have phrased my original post a little more clearly. And as I said in my last post- I wound up paying the $99 because I do not want my boy’s sample getting lost in the mix once they open up the other research projects. I donated the $99 two days ago, so lets see how long it will take them to ship out my sample. The way it was worded originally, it sounded like it would be sent with the next full batch of samples, but then in the FAQ it read that it will be sent with the next batch of 20 samples that people paid for- and my luck I am number 19 and no one else will pay for a sample and I will be stuck waiting even longer than if I had left well enough alone and stayed in the free grouping.

@ Admin esp Brittney – how does that work exactly? Say I am 1 of 19 who paid for samples to be sent- are we stuck waiting for that last person to donate and you get in x amount of grants- do you send only the free ones out or do you send our paid for samples out as well?

[allison miller]

I also have waited 2 years and honestly, I already have Wisdom panel results for one of my dogs so I didn’t join Darwin’s Dogs just to see their DNA. I am sincerely curious about findings in the original study. That said, it was a bit of work to fill out 21 surveys for two dogs so yeah an update would be nice. I worked in nonprofit and education orgs for many years and do understand funding issues. Additionally I wasn’t aware that the group became a nonprofit and changed its name—maybe my message got lost. I was a bit surprised to open my dog’s records and see a suggested $1000+ donation. Perhaps cut off registrations until you can handle your current sample.

[randy everette]

I’ve been waiting almost two years. Totally unaccceptable! I was told submit and get your results for free. Now they want us to pay for it? HA. I don’t care what the defenders say, this is bait and switch, fraud, and not keeping their promise. Their rationalizations just don’t wash. This whole project should be shut down.

[randy everette]

KRISTEN — “give them a chance. ” ??? Seriously??? That have had almost 2 years for me and over 2 years for many. They’ve ALREADY HAD their chance!

[kristen johnson 2]

Jamie- that is an interesting question….I would hope if there were 19 they would just stick the first free one in there to be able to send them all out. I know the feeling though about having that kind of luck! That’s so the kind of luck I have! I hope that doesn’t happen for you!

Randy – I’m sorry to have upset you. All I meant was that I am hoping that since they’ve made this change to be able to get more funding that things might be different. All we can do is wait and see. I know it’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing I think. I hope.

[brittney logan]

I’d like to make it clear that Kathleen Morrill is a graduate student in our lab, helping to analyze your dogs DNA… and is not a troll. We are simply trying to clarify the new changes that we have made to this research so that owners have more options and say in what happens to their dogs samples.

If you have questions regarding your dogs sample, please email us. We want these forms to be a place of good discussion about our four legged friend and how we can help to improve their lives as well as ours.

[brittney logan]

Randy,

We do completely understand your frustrations and agree two years is a long time. That is how research works sometimes though, it can be unpredictable. We did our best in those two years to get grant money, as we have, and to improve our methods and partners to assist with new technologies in sequencing. We have now come to the stage where we are confident in our methods and sequencing.

We have grant money for the participants that want to remain participating for free, especially if they have filled out all the surveys (one of our grant is covering allergies in dogs). As for participants that want their dogs sample to be sent out ASAP and therefore get the results more quickly, that is why we made this a non-profit so that they have the OPTION to fund their dogs sample.

[brittney logan]

I do want to point out something that may not be very clear on our participation levels.

If we already have your dogs sample and you have filled out the surveys, you would only need to fund your dogs sample for $99.00 (this will show up on your profile and is not in our FAQ just yet.)

Again, funding your dogs sample is optional. We will be putting our grant money towards funding the samples that are at the free participation level.

[jamie wagner]

I would like to publicly apologize to Kathleen. My phone screwed up earlier when i was scrolling through and showed her name next to kristen johnson’s posts. So my previous comment about trolls was not meant towards Kathleen but towards kristen!

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