OkcPets Magazine January 2023

28 OKC Pets • January / February 2023 cle large enough to move Pikalova, three family members, and 11 dogs swiftly out of Ukraine was complicated. Many drivers were con artists who would take clients’ money and leave them stranded or dead on the roadside. Pikalova had to place immense trust in friends’ referrals and contacts, never knowing until reaching her destination whether she could trust the drivers. She carried her dogs in two wire crates, which was all the room the driver could spare for the 36-hour ride from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to Poland. Leaving Kharkiv, the driver traveled bumpy back roads to avoid being discov- ered by Russian patrols, which could mean kidnapping, imprisonment, or death. Along the way, the travelers encountered Ukrainian military checkpoints. Some were under fire, but others provided a temporary respite for people to catch their breath, stretch their legs, and walk the dogs. The longer the refugees drove, the more the reality of reaching Poland alive sank in. During the days it took to travel to Poland, Russia relentlessly unleashed hun- dreds of rockets daily on Kharkiv, Pikalo- va’s once peaceful city of 1.4 million peo- ple, famous for its substantial old poplars and chestnut trees along the central streets. A metropolis once populated with exotic restaurants and Western fast-food eateries such as KFC and McDonald’s was quickly turning into piles of rubble. Burning ash from the exploding rockets darkened the beautiful sky, which once had provided a picturesque background to a modern city. Arriving in Poland, Pikalova was surprised that many of her clients and social-media friends were there to greet her and help with fostering some dogs. Many veterinarians in Poland treated the refugee animals for free. The family arrived with little more than the pets and suitcases. Because of the long wait to achieve refugee status in Poland, they had no choice but to continue their journey to Germany. For entry, Germany required the dogs to have passports, which caused additional stress and costs. Once in Germany, the four pups to be fostered by Lanphear were ready for trans- port to the United States. Lanphear had hired a broker in Houston, Texas, to help with customs. The dogs flew from Ger- many to Amsterdam, where they spent a night at a pet hotel because of bad weather before traveling to Houston. Starting a New Life “On September 1, we picked them up from a cargo hangar in Houston,” says Lan- phear. “They smelled horrible, didn’t have collars, and were terrified. One was so ex- cited to see people that she came bounding POPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOP POPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOP These Chinese Crested dogs are ready to leave Lviv, Ukraine, after a stop in their rapid journey to escape the war in Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Tatyana Pikalova. This Chinese Crested dog belonging to Ukrainian breeder Tatyana Pikalova is grateful for care at a veterinary clinic in Crescent, Oklahoma. Photo courtesy of Nicole Lanphear.