Dwayne Johnson donates cash to help pay for namesake pup's life-saving surgery

Action man Dwayne Johnson has donated $1,500 to help pay for life-saving surgery for a namesake puppy, which was tortured and abandoned.

The four-month-old dog, also named Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, was dumped at Los Angeles' North Central Shelter earlier this month (Nov15) with a thick metal wire clamped around his mouth.

Carers at the shelter had to use bolt cutters to remove the wire and stitch up his mouth, but little Dwayne has since been diagnosed with a deadly heart murmur, and now he is in desperate need of surgery.

Actress Michelle Trachtenberg has been helping to raise awareness and the funds needed for the pooch's surgery via crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com, and on Tuesday (24Nov15), one of her Twitter.com posts caught the attention of the Furious 7 star.

"This puppy named after @TheRock was tortured, abandoned!" read her post, which featured a photo of the shaggy-haired dog. "He needs our help for life saving surgery".

"This is rough to read about," Dwayne wrote in response to Michelle's tweet. "Poor lil' pup abandoned w/ (with) a wire wrapped around his mouth. I'll help. Stay strong pup."

He made good on his promise and pledged the generous donation on Wednesday (25Nov15), helping to cover the $4,500 cost of the surgery.

"Thank you so much for your support @TheRock," Michelle replied after noting the donation. "We are going to save this little fighter's life!"

The crowdfunding page, set up by officials at Saving SPOT! Dog Rescue center in Los Angeles, aims to raise a total of $5,000 . The pup is due to have the operation on 18 December (15).

Movie star Dwayne is known for his puppy love - in early September (15), he had to dive into his swimming pool, fully clothed, to rescue French bulldog Brutus after his furry friend fell in and sank to the bottom.

He survived that accident, but unfortunately, Brutus died later that month after eating a poisonous mushroom.

"We'll always love you Brutus...," the actor wrote on Instagram as he paid tribute to his late pet, "and you'll always be my lil' main man and rough housing Brute."