OkcPets Magazine January 2023

January / February 2023 • OKC Pets 27 Crested dogs, she owned 11 canines. The dogs meant the world to her. They were beloved family members, companions that would add love and joy to the fami- lies chosen to adopt them. Behind the scenes, when war broke out, the Chinese Crested community rallied to- gether to help with the needs of Ukrainian dog owners. Hearing of their plight through social media, Nicole Lanphear of Oklahoma City contacted Darcy Smith, DVM, in Crescent, Oklahoma, importer of Eastern European Chinese Crested dogs. Lanphear offered to foster four of the refugee dogs. She and Dr. Smith reached out to other breeders, handlers, and owners through social media to help the Pikalova family escape with their dogs. In Europe, the public transportation system is robust, and many people do not need vehicles. So arranging transporta- tion became nearly impossible as millions of people tried to leave the country. It took most dog breeders a few months to save money for transport out of Ukraine because taxi (bus) costs had increased to more than 25 times prewar prices. Pikalova scraped together enough money to arrange transportation from Ukraine to Poland. Finding safe passage in a vehi- O Chinese Crested dogs rescued from Ukraine snuggle with Nicole Lanphear of Oklahoma City. Photo courtesy of Nicole Lanphear.