LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Neither life nor many people have been kind to disabled veteran, David Courneya.
"I'm really more in tune with animals than with people, for the most part," Courneya said.
He served in the U.S. Army National Guard for the state of Washington. Courneya has also had a heart attack, suffers from PTSD, anxiety and depression. Recently, he lost the emotional support dog who had been his constant companion.
"I had her for 17 years. She was my running partner for 17 years," Courneya said.
He knew he couldn't go on without a dog by his side, which is how Skunk came into his life.
"I actually adopted her in Los Lunas, New Mexico, back in December, to train as my new service animal."
Courneya's 1991 Ford F350 diesel truck is their home.
"I'm disabled and don't basically have any family, no home, per se, where I consider home, so we just chose to wander and see some of the cool sights and had never been to Vegas before," Courneya said. "Wanted to see what the Strip looked like at night and that kind of thing, ended up breaking down and been stranded here ever since."
On Feb. 26, their home on wheels broke down at the shuttered Terrible's Hotel & Casino in Jean.
"I paid a 'mobile outfit' to come out and work on the truck and they took $700 from me and never came back and didn't fix the truck," Courneya said.
That was March 3.
"About three days after the mechanics ripped me off, Skunk was stolen from me."
They'd gone for a walk, heading west across the I-15 highway to the gas station.
Courneya brought Skunk to the gas station's enclosed pet relief area for a little bit of exercise, at a time he said there was no one else around.
He went into the convenience store for no more than seven minutes.
When he came out, Skunk was already gone.
"I was sick," Courneya said, choking back tears. "She's all I got. I got nothing else. I just have her."
He asked staff at the gas station to call police.
"The first thing they want to do is judge me because I'm a homeless person, but I'm stubborn and I deserve better than that," Courneya said. "So I started rattling some cages and making phone calls and finally I hooked up to a detective."
"It's misconstrued that unhoused individuals can't care for pets and I think that this is a perfect example that they can," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detective Todd Ashworth, who trained both pet and police dogs before joining the force. "It's not just a dog case. It's a human case. This individual was obviously down on his luck and this dog was very important to him."
A few days after Detective Ashworth got the case, he learned Skunk had surfaced at the Rancho Cucamonga Animal Center in Southern California.
"The animal shelter scanned the dog for a microchip and it came back to the owner," explained Ashworth. "Without that dog having a microchip, we would not have the dog back."
But that doesn't mean the case is closed.
"The case is still open. The case is still being investigated," Ashworth said. "The most important thing, the urgent thing, was to get the dog back in his care."
"A day to me is eternity without her," said Courneya.
Ashworth knew time was of the essence for both Courneya and Skunk.
"Once I talked to [the staff at the shelter], they kind of put my mind at ease and said they would continue to hold the dog and give me time to find some resources to get the dog back here to Vegas," Courneya said.
Those resources came from Las Vegas non-profit, Street Dogz, which is dedicated to helping homeless people and their pets.
"I want to help him, him and the dog. They deserve it," said Street Dogz volunteer Briana Maxwell. "[Homeless people] could still be great pet owners and sometimes that's all they have."
Maxwell volunteered to drive to California and bring Skunk home.
She recorded their reunion on her cell phone.
"I saw the dog take off and run directly for him and she's a puppy. She's only four months old so for her to know him that well they must be really close," Maxwell said. "He just grabbed her and started crying and held her. It was so sweet."
"It just felt like finally, something right had happened," Courneya said. "I mean without her, I'm nothing."
Facilitating the reunion is only a fraction of what Street Dogz has done for Courneya and his dog, bringing them a donated bounty of clothes, towels, blankets, food, toys and more.
"For [Briana] to take the initiative and get in her car and get my dog delivered back to me ... I don't know what else ... I can't thank her enough," Courneya told 13 Investigates.
With Skunk safe and back in his care, he can focus on what comes next.
"I need to get my truck fixed somehow. I don't know how," Courneya said. "My final destination is the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Washington state and up in that country and I just ... I don't necessarily have a place to call home but if there is one, that's it."
The tide is continuing to turn for Skunk and Courneya.
LVMPD's Homeless Outreach Team put them in touch with Help of Southern Nevada and got them into temporary housing at a motel in Henderson.
Grab & Go Towing brought Courneya's truck there free of charge.
The only thing he still needs help with is getting the truck up and running so that he and his canine companion can continue their journey. Those interested in helping David fix his vehicle, Street Dogz started a link where those interested are to donate.
Click here to find more information to donate.
