Man forgoes Salvation Army housing because dog not allowed

Carl Coe stands outside his small tent and explains how he and his dog, Champ, keep each other warm at night.

"Champ gets right in the sleeping bag with me when it gets cold in the dark," the bearded Army veteran said of his 8-year-old canine buddy. "I wish he didn't snore so much, but we stay warm."

It's midday Wednesday in North Las Vegas off Losee Road between Carey and Cheyenne avenues. The toothless Coe asks Champ how high the temperature will go. Champ stares, sniffs and walks slowly in a circle.

"Not too high," Coe nodded.

From the street, you can't see where Coe has pitched his tent in a large desert lot.

But the 49-year-old, who served during peacetime in South Korea, is no stranger to the people who work in this area.

"Every day Carl and Champ come walking up this way," said Harry Huber, manager of Fleet Body and Paint, an auto body shop near the corner of Losee and Carey. "They're both as nice as they could be. He's always talking about the weather. And I guess that makes sense because he lives out in it. "

Huber's colleague, Denise Arnold, said she has known Coe since long before he was living with Champ under a bridge at I-15 and Carey earlier this year.

"Actually, I've known him about four years," she said. "I just wish he didn't have to be homeless. There's a store down the street where they give things out to poor people, and he's one of the guys who asks to hand things out. He wants to be helpful."

As he walks up Losee with Champ, Coe talks briefly about how he ended up living on the street.

After he got out of the Army, he returned to California and did odd jobs there and then in Las Vegas. But a beating by an unknown assailant left him partially brain damaged and unable to work.

"I wasn't able to make it too good," Coe said. "And I started living outside. It's not great, but the 7-Eleven food they throw away isn't bad at all."

He basically spends his days, he said, talking to people "and seeing things. ...You know there's a lot to see."

A couple of years ago he thought he had it made. He heard about apartments that the Salvation Army makes available to the chronically homeless who have some income.

"I get $670 a month Social Security disability, and it was only going to cost me $200 and something a month," he said. "But the problem was I couldn't have Champ. Your dog has to be under 20 pounds. I figure Champ is more than twice that."

Instead of a roof over his head, Coe chose to stay on the street with his best friend.

Marc Wilcher, a property manager for the Salvation Army program, explained Monday that the rule is in place largely for the safety of other residents.

But he said it is possible that Champ could be classified as a "service animal" and, therefore, the 20-pound rule could be waived.

Wilcher said the definition of service animals has been broadened beyond what people often associate them with -- assisting someone who is blind or paralyzed.

"If a health care professional thinks there is an emotional need for someone to have an animal, then it could be classified as service animal," he said.

As Coe stood in the desert, he said he doesn't know whether he has an emotional need for Champ.

"All I know is that I've had him since he was a puppy eight years ago," he said. "He's like my arm or my leg. He's just part of me."

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.