On April 6th 2022, actress Jena Malone (“Contact,” “The Hunger Games“) revealed a story about how she helped rescue a dog. As she drove down Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, she “saw a man kicking repeatedly a small dog, yanking him up in the air and absolutely choking the dog.” Malone shared in a tweet how she “yelled at him to stop from my car but he wouldn’t,” and “got out of my car to try and get the dog but he started running.”
The thread goes on to explain how Malone gave chase but “…looked back and there were 5 other men behind me pursuing him.” Assuming they saw the same behavior that she did, Malone fell back. Since she felt she had “no business trying to restrain a full grown man.”
But Malone wasn’t giving up on the poor pup. She went back to her still-running car and drove down the street. After 6 blocks, she found where the pursuit had ended. A big group had gathered around the chased man and he no longer had the dog. While Malone “didn’t see the brawl,” she “was told that the man did not give up the dog without a fight.”
The actress stayed with the dog, whose name is Champion, until police arrived. Malone noticed that Champion was filthy and looked like he hadn’t been taken care of. According to People, the man was arrested on Monday. He had felony Animal Cruelty charges filed against him by the district attorney on Tuesday. The puppy “is ok but has a fractured rib , bone breaks in it’s hind legs and another fracture in its right paw.”
The owner was found via microchip, and said the dog had been missing for a week.
You can donate to Champion’s GoFundMe to help pay for his surgeries. As of the time of this writing, it has raised $14,534 of its $10,000 goal.
