Actress Jena Malone was one of a group people who confronted a man she says was abusing his dog on a Los Angeles street.
On April 6, 2022, Jena was driving near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when she says she spotted a man abusing his small dog. She ended up yelling at the man from her car, telling him to stop it. When he ignored her, she got out the car and he started running.
Jena chased the man and signaled to another man nearby to help her. Others were around who had reportedly seen the man abusing the dog and several continued to run after him after Jenna could no longer. They saved the dog and got to the man, who became the subject of a substantial beatdown.
Jena shared a thread on Twitter about her experience with the dog abuser.
"This was really scary," she wrote. "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."
"So I started chasing him. I saw other people watching on the street upset, as they must have seen the same abhorrent behavior I witnessed, so I tried to signal a man in an orange vest to run with me to chase him," she continued.
"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."
"So at this point I held back and let them take the lead as I have no business trying to restrain a full grown man. I went back to get my car (it was still running) and drove to see if they caught him," Jena continued.
"6 blocks down from where the chase began a big group had gathered and it look like the man no longer had the dog. So I pulled over to make sure that dog was going to be cared for. I didn't see the brawl but I was told that the man did not give up the dog without a fight."
"And this is the tail end of a heated fight that ensued. The cops came and took the guy. I waited with dog til another cop came to take them to the hospital. The dog was covered in filth and looked like it had been not taken care of for months," she revealed.
"After coming out of the hospital , the dog is ok but has a fractured rib , bone breaks in it’s hind legs and another fracture in its right paw. It was absolutely horrific seeing an animal treated this way."
"I'm sorry that it ended in a brawl but the dog was going to die. No question. I can't imagine the level of torture it had suffered until this point. And now it's safe in a hospital. Still no word on its owner," she concluded.
"Also because it important to know, I saw the man get arrested and he wasn't bleeding and seemed coherent after this filmed altercation."
"Update: the dog was chipped and back with his owner. The dog had been missing for a week. His name is Champion and is happily out of hospital and with his owner. Watch out for the GoFundMe link soon. His multiple surgeries will be a lot for the owner to take care of alone," she later shared.
So far, the GoFundMe has raised $15,000.
"Champion is out of the hospital and out of his surgeries and doing so well it seems. Very happy to be home," Jena shared in a later video update.
"I’m really thankful to see so much support thru the GoFundMe page. I'm always in awe when people come together. It's easy to feel like that sort of thing is a romantic notion these days. This was a true example of how wonderfully contagious courage can be. It's a good reminder for me and hopefully for us all. Love ya."
