Lawrence Dalle Vedove sobbed.

The 51-year-old Hamilton resident, who became a hero overnight after offering $5,000 to help reunite a dog with its family, has become the recipient of generosity himself.

Dalle Vedove gave up his vacation fund to visit Australia after hearing about an 80-year-man with dementia whose dog wound up lost and adopted by a new family.

That family wanted to keep the dog — a 10-year-old miniature pinscher boxer mix named Kimbo — but decided to return him in exchange for Dalle Vedove's $5,000 offer.

Since Kimbo was returned to Karl Daniels and his family in an emotional reunion on Tuesday, several people have come forward with offers of cash, cheques and a crowdfunding campaign to repay Dalle Vedove for his generosity. But it was one particular gesture that broke the dam — a free plane ticket to Australia.

"I didn't mean to cry," he whispered.

"Oh, god," he said, once told by the Toronto Star that Expedia Canada was willing to cover his trip.

"I don't know what to say. Thank you. I'm grateful. I don't know what to say. I don't."

The $5,000 Dalle Vedove had used to secure Kimbo's return had originally been saved for a trip to Australia.

Lawrence's act of kindness touched and inspired the travel company, said Adam Francis of Expedia Canada.

The outreach didn't end there.

Kimbo's owners were so appreciative, that they launched a gofundme page to raise the $5,000 he spent on them. As of Wednesday night, it had raised more than $2,400.

"We were talking about that… how do we go about giving him back his money? We were thinking about starting a gofundme campaign" said Michelle Daniels, Karl's daughter.

Dalle Vedove said anything he receives over the $5,000 he offered to help Kimbo will be donated to an animal welfare organization.

"He's a hero," Michelle Daniels said.

Dalle Vedove brushed off the accolade.

"It's overwhelming," he said. "I wasn't expecting it . . . people are calling me a hero — I'm not a hero. I think of our fallen soldiers, and our first responders who lay their lives on the line for us are heroes . . . I'm not a hero."

A registered medical technologist at Hamilton Health Sciences, Dalle Vedove lives with two Dobermans, Zee and Halo. He came forward for the Daniels family because he went through a similar experience in 2010 when Zee went missing for several months. Zee was later found by a Doberman rescue group by the side of a road after getting hit by a car, but required over $10,000 of veterinary care to recover.

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Dalle Vedove has helped with animal rescue before.

Earlier this year, he saw a picture on social media of a Doberman who was tied up and left in an industrial lot in Toronto.

"I just picked up my phone and called Bridget Oakes, my veterinary assistant friend and said we are going to Toronto right now," he said. "I said we are going to rescue a dog."

When they reached the place, a small group of about eight people had gathered and helped push the wooden fence down.

The dog was "very hungry, appeared emaciated and ate several bowls of food and maybe water."

No one wanted to pick up the dog because it looked weak, he said.

"I knew time was of the essence and I knelt down and cradled him with my arms and lifted him into the SUV." He then offered $100 to help with the vet bill, which was all the money in his wallet.

Although Dalle Vedove isn't rich, Oakes says "he's probably the most generous person I know especially when it comes to animals"

She's not surprised he stepped up for Kimbo.

"He does things like that all the time," she said. "But $5,000 . . . that's definitely the biggest one that he's done."

- Kimbo reunited with his family