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[Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>]

http://www.kctv5.com/global/story.asp?s=1499160&ClientType=Printable

Oct. 27, 2003
Trucker Finds Chimp in Another Semi's Cab
 
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A local trucker got in trouble for a little monkey 
business when
Kansas City, Kan., police discovered he had a full grown chimp riding shotgun.

Another trucker spotted the 160-pound, 12-year-old female in a cage in a semi 
cab in a
parking lot.

The owner said he'd been going to the parking lot daily to feed the chimp, 
but police
said they didn't see any evidence of food or water in the truck, KCTV5's 
Liana Joyce
reported on KCTV5 News at 4 p.m.

Authorities removed the chimp and took it to a shelter in Lee's Summit, Mo.

Ray Waggener, a trucker from California, found the chimp after he pulled up 
next to the
cab.

"I heard something, some spitting or something, so I looked up, and it's just 
a cage on
the inside of the window there. I see some eyes looking at me, nose, mouth, 
and looked
up, I said, well, 'How ya doin' there bud?' I thought (it was) some idiot 
(dressed up)
... for Halloween," Waggener said.

Then, Waggener got a closer look, and he realized it was a real animal. He 
called the
police.

"They all came out laughing, like what have you been smoking? I don't do 
drugs. I don't
drink on duty, you know. The officer got up there and looked, and he said, 
'There is a
(chimp) in there,' and I said, 'yeah,' Waggener said.

The chimp's owner was sited for animal neglect, as well as not having the 
proper permit,
Liana reported. It wasn't the first time that he'd been sited for monkey 
business. Two
other Animal Control agencies had seized the chimp at one time or another, 
she said.