LIVS does send scans for the genome research to Sarah Blott. Breeders in the US have been asked many, many times on various lists over *many* years now to please submit any MRIs for research. The clubs have not chosen to make this clear to their members, sadly and there is almost no visibility for the need to support this research.
Rupert's Fund does not really have the money to cover costs of scanning dogs in the US unless there is a very compelling reason to do a particular dog for research. Also, there seems to be a misunderstanding about what the fund is for. It is to be used to scan older dogs that researchers deem to be important to helping research -- not just to funding any older dog to be scanned. Anyone is invited to submit info on a potential RF dog to researchers, anywhere. It says this clearly on the website.
It would be a good idea for breeders in the US to organise a fund towards covering or helping to part-fund scanning costs, as has been suggested also *many* times over the years... at least half a decade ago it was highly recommended by several researchers that the clubs at least create a fund to scan significant sires as they have so much more genetic influence on the breed as they are so heavily used, but nothing happened. Breeders in the US also need to organise to work together through their influential clubs work towards the establishment of more low cost scanning programmes.
I am aware of one case in which a scanning centre approached a club to establish such a programme and had a very hard time getting anyone at all to respond. The programme would not be there if some of us had not insisted that breeders really did want such a scheme even if the clubs would not return phonecalls. :sl*p:
There is a lot US breeders could be driving themselves in regards to scanning and research and submitting scans. Incidentally the US scans were not initially going to be part of the EBVs until so few UK breeders responded to requests for scans and the programme STILL three years later suffers from too few scans even though well over thousand cavaliers have been scanned at one centre alone, most of those to club breeders.
Breeders want information, tools and results but they won;t get anything if they do not contribute themselves to research. Too many still sit on scans and their heart results (the fact that so many did the latter meant the genome research, which was to have also focused on finding a genetic test for MVD, had to drop that goal). Thus do petty breeder politics play out in research, and thus is subtle pressure put on others, generally the small breeders, not to support research either. And thus are breed health problems perpetuated, and thus do individual dogs die too early, too painfully.
There are some great supportive breeders out there but too many have a conscience only for their show trophies and the cash they get from selling puppies.