By Cliff Morrison Staff Writer for Independence Daily Reporter

Only Cupcake knows the whole story and she isn't talking. But no doubt Cupcake would agree with the humans around her that implanting a microchip ID in a pet is an excellent precaution.

Cupcake's misadventures took her to Neodesha and Wichita, but thanks to her microchip she is back home in Independence with those who love her.

Cupcake, who is about 1, is a beagle. She lives with a Golden Retriever, Ellie, who is about 2, and with Karen and Robin Wilson and thier children, as well as Princess Kitty, who is about 5 on South 6th street in Independence.

The children -- happy to have thier beagle home -- are Bryson, 11, Mackynze, 8, Robin, 6 and Aaryn-Marie, 4. "We were very lucky to get her back." Karen Wilson said reciently.

Microchip IDs, which are about the same size as a grain of rice, are transponders. They're implanted beneath the skin, usually between the shoulders, in a quick procedure simalar to getting a shot. Cupcake got hers several months ago at Independence Animal Hospital.

Considering whatwas soon to happen, "I would defininetly recommend" other pets have microchips too, Karen Wilson said.

Cupcakes misadventures began Neewollah week, she recalled. Someone unlocked the gate to the Wilsons' yard and both Cupcake and Ellie got out. Luckily the children saw the gate standing open and were able to put the dogs back in quickly.

However, while the Wilsons were downtown at the Neewollah Grand Parade the next day, someone delibrerately unlocked the gate again. When they returned home, Cupcake was gone.

It's especially distressing that since someone unlocked the gate two days consecutively, apparently the person meant to cause harm. Karen Wilson said.

Even though the Wilsons searched their neighorhood and surrounding areas, contacted local veterinarians and AWOL and advertised online and on the radio, they were unable to find Cupcake.

Karen Wilson said they and one report, that a beagle matching Cupcake's description was seen near the railroad tracks. But the report didn't lead to getting the beagle home.

The next thing they heard about Cupcake wasn't until December, she said. Here's the story as the Wilsons pieced it together later.

Karen and Robin Wilson are both registerd nurses, she working in Independence and Fredonia and he working in Tulsa, OK. Pat Short - whom they haven't met, but who is an nurse in Neodesha - saw Cupcake limping along the highway near Wilson County Medical Center there.

Short "is a hero in this story," Karen Wilson said. She let the disstressed beagle into her car and wondered how to help her. It so happened Short's sons fiance, who works with K-9 ResQ in Wichita, was visiting Neodesha.

The fiance took Cupcake to the organization in Wichita, where a veterniarian scanned her, hoping she might have a microchip - and luckily she did, Wilson said. The ID contained a registry number, which enabled the Wichita organization to contact Dr. Ed Epp at Independence Animal Hospital.

Epp then contacted the Wilsons to let them know Cupcake had been found. the family traveled to Wichita to pick her up, but she still had a problem. She'd been limping because her right back leg, "probably weeks before" Wilson said, possibly a vehicle struck her.

Dr Epp performed surgery on the beagle, and Cupcake is recovering  well, recently beginning to put weight onto her injured leg again as she moves around her home, Wilson said.

The moral of the story, she added, is this - a microchip ID can save your beloved pet.

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