Jena Malone starred in The Hunger Games as Johanna Mason. As the actress was driving on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when she saw a Bichon Frise type dog being abused by the person walking it. The 37-year-old actress decided to step in.
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Coming to the rescue
On Monday, April 4, Jena Malone was driving down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when she noticed a man beating a dog and then pulling it into the air by its lead, essentially choking it.
This was really scary. I saw a man kicking repeatedly a small dog on the sunset, yanking him up in the air and absolutely choking the dog. I yelled at him to stop from my car but he wouldn’t. I got out of my car to try and get the dog but he started running. ( thread) https://t.co/3ftY18M3Ap
— Jena Malone (@MaloneJena) April 6, 2022
Jena decided to do something about it and stepped out of her car and began shouting at the man. Once the man noticed her, he tried to run away. Jena recounted on Twitter that as she began chasing the man, others who had noticed what was going on decided to help and joined the pursuit.
She wrote on Twitter:
Cause at that point I really didn’t think I was going to be able to get the dog back by myself. After another block of chasing him down I looked back and there were 5 other men behind me pursuing him. Which felt like a miracle.
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The dog was saved
The dog in question was called Champion. Eventually, Jena and the others caught up with the man and Champion. Jena was able to take the dog away from the man, who seemed to show no remorse for abusing the dog as he was complaining that the dog had annoyed him and said:
That's why I did it, it's my mother's dog and he should obey me.
The man was arrested for animal cruelty after he had been filmed admitting to hitting the dog.
Champion suffered from a broken leg and had to undergo several surgeries that the owner cannot afford. Champion had been lost for a week and his owner was glad to have him home. A GoFundMe page was launched to help fund Champion’s vet bills, the fundraiser has collected over $14,000.
