A student from An Giang Province in southern Vietnam was found in a critical condition after two thieves who tried to snatch his dog fired an arrow at his neck.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Van Dau, chief of police of Cho Moi District in An Giang, said on Tuesday that his force was working with authorities in bordering Dong Thap Province to search for the thief ring involved in the case, which took place in Long Dien B Commune of the locality.

“This group is responsible for several dog thievery instances in the last few days," he said.

"We are trying to find the group and put them through due process.

“However, as the Cho Moi District adjoins Dong Thap Province, the search area is rather large, which has made the searching more time-consuming.”

Earlier, the victim P.Q.D., 19, from Dong Thap's Long Dien B, found two thieves trying to steal a dog from his family.

He continued to chase them down with his father on a motorbike before getting shot in the neck by an improvised crossbow.

The victim was promptly brought to Cho Moi District General Hospital before transferred to An Giang Province General Hospital due to his critical condition.

He pulled through thanks to the effort of a surgical team who conducted a three-hour operation to safely remove the arrow from his body.

The arrow is 50 centimeters long with an eight-centimeter, two-prong arrowhead that pierced through his flesh and touched the cervical spine, doctors said.

However, the lesion was not fatal.

The patient has so far regained consciousness and been able to communicate with medical workers.

D. is reavealed to be a freshman at Can Tho University in the namesake city, who just arrived home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

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