"Lorelei" Premiere - 2021 Tribeca Festival© GettyImages

Jena Malone chases a man in order to rescue a mistreated dog

Malone was driving in Los Angeles when she noticed a man beating on a small dog.


Senior Writer
APRIL 7, 2022 1:32 PM EDT

Jena Malone was one of the people responsible for completing a citizens arrest in Los Angeles. The actress was driving in Hollywood when she spotted a man beauting on a small dog, prompting her to park her car and stop the man.

Malone and a group of men were responsible for stopping the man and saving the dog. She explained what happened over Twitter. “I saw a man kicking repeatedly a small dog on the sunset, yanking him up in the air and absolutely choking the dog,” she wrote. “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.” She said that it felt “like a miracle” when other people joined in to rescue the dog. “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 said. “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.”

According to KNBC, which reported the local news, the man that was beating the dog was stopped by the men who persecuted him and was later arrested for suspicion of animal cruelty. As an explanation for beating on the dog, the man said that the dog didn’t “obey” him.

Malone explained over social media that the dog they rescued is now in a hospital, being treated for a variety of injuries. The dog had been reported missing for the past five days, and is now in the care of his original owners. His name is Champ. In her social media bio, Malone linked to a GoFundMe page, where people can pitch in and help the owners pay for Champ’s surgery.

Jena Malone has been acting from a young age, known for her performances in “Stepmom,” “Donnie Darko” and “The Hunger Games” films. In the coming years, she’ll star in the TV series “Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas” and the film “Rebel Moon.”