Jena Malone helps rescue dog from allegedly abusive man

Jena Malone chased a man in Los Angeles earlier this week after she allegedly witnessed him abusing a dog.

The Hunger Games star wrote on Twitter that she saw the man repeatedly kicking a small dog, "yanking him up in the air" and choking it, so she yelled at him from her car but he refused to stop his behaviour. As she got out of her vehicle to rescue the canine, the man started to run so she chased him and urged other bystanders to help.

"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," she wrote. "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."

The Neon Demon actress returned to her car and drove six blocks down from where the chase began and the man no longer had the pooch. She claimed she did not witness her helpers beating up the man to make him give up the dog.

"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 continued. "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."

The dog, a six-year-old Maltipoo named Champion, has been reunited with its owner Kelly McKinney, who told The Washington Post the pooch had been stolen last week by her son, who has not yet been identified by police.

Champ has broken ribs and a broken left hind leg, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help McKinney with her vet's bill.