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Henry Golding's fostered pit bull mauled another pooch in a park -- causing a trip to the vet and staples -- but the actor is now stepping up to cover the injured pooch's bills.

Here's the deal ... the "Crazy Rich Asians" star is fostering a pit bull named Stella during the coronavirus pandemic, and last week Henry brought her to Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles, where all hell broke loose.

We're told Stella attacked a smaller pup while the dogs were running around, picking the pooch up by the neck and causing a large gash that required several hours at an animal hospital. The hurt pup needed 6 staples, but will survive.

The owner of the smaller dog tells us she spoke to a police officer who was at the park, but the cops couldn't do anything and told her the incident needed to be resolved between the 2 parties. We're also told Henry's dog was on a leash, and the smaller pooch was not.

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