ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The saying “a dog is a man’s best friend” doesn’t quite cut it for the bond between Robert Podlaski and his dog Levi.

“When we saw Levi, it was automatic. We knew that we had the right dog," he said.

“We started training Levi as a therapy dog. And just about the time he was ready to pass his therapy dog test, dad passed. About that time, the V.A. authorized veterans with PTSD to get service dogs. And I was like, well, I really don't want another dog. I got a dog. I got a big dog. I was like, how about we turn him into the service dog?” he said.

Podlaski is a disabled veteran. He joined the Navy in 1984 and was medically discharged in 1994.

“Severe PTSD is pretty much what I was discharged with. That was the medical diagnosis, along with bad knees and a bad back," he explained.

Podlaski got Levi trained to be his service dog. The pair couldn’t have united at a better time.

“We didn't realize at the time how important this dog was going to be. And four years ago, I had to go through the death of my son. And my son was shot and killed on Dewey and Magee in a drive-by shooting. He wasn't the intended target. He was an innocent bystander. It doesn't make him any less dead,” he explained. “And I can honestly say for absolute fact, were it not for him, you wouldn't be having this conversation with me today. It was that hard.”

The duo has been there for each other ever since. So when Levi took a fall a few months ago, Podlaski knew his buddy needed him.

“He went up the stairs and his back legs did this. Like that, splayed out. So he did a literal split and came right down on top of it,” Podlaski showed. “I took him to the regular vet and she goes, yep, he’s got a torn ACL. Not only did he have a cruciate tear, but he had a meniscus tear too and again, we had no money to do it. They told us they expect the surgery to be anywhere from five to seven thousand dollars and I went, that’s five to seven dollars more than I’ve got in the bank.”

So he started looking for grants to apply for.

“I call him my battle buddy. But when he got hurt, being on a fixed income with VA disability, I was stuck. I couldn't help him. And watching him walk around limping in pain, knowing what had happened and not being able to do anything about it, not being able to help him was just soul-crushing to me,” he said.

Guardian Heals is a nonprofit that’s working to end economic euthanasia. According to Figo Pet Insurance, that’s something two out of every three pet owners are faced with when accident strikes and the funds aren’t there for their animal's recovery. Podlaski applied for the fundraiser.

“If it brings in a dollar, that’s a dollar we didn’t have. I go, pocket change at this point is monumental. So to log on to the website and find out that the, it exceeded our goal was just absolutely shocking,” Podlaski smiled.

The community raised thousands of dollars overnight. Levi got his surgery in June.

“I used to laugh at people where they said, 'Oh, we spent such and such money on surgery for my dog.' It's a dog. And then this happened and I went, 'I, I get it now, I get it,'” Podlaski admitted.

Levi is still healing, but with plenty of support from his best friend.

“We're his service humans now. He needs a service human. So instead of him being the service dog, we're the service humans taking care of him. And it's about the best description I can come up with,” he said.

Guardian Heals also helps provide funds for pet therapy, specialized care for recovery, and supplies to comfort your animal after an operation. The nonprofit offers financial assistance to qualified pet owners after a crisis, and is always accepting donations to provide to their furry families.

“Everybody is one disaster away from total destruction. You're one devastating thing away from having your entire life turned upside down. You never know. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring,” Podlaski explained.

To learn more, apply for assistance or donate for other furry families across the country, head to healspets.org.