Last updated at 14:56 27 July 2007

A brave mongrel was twice shot in the head by callous thugs - with a crossbow.

Amazingly, the friendly brindle mongrel, named Beau by nurses at the veterinary surgery, survived the vicious attack which left two crossbow bolts embedded in her skull.

It is thought Beau, who has only just been taken out of intensive care after a major two-hour operation, was fired at by two disgusting yobs at point blank range.

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Lovable Beau was handed in to vets in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, by police on Wednesday night. She was found by a member of the public at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, with the devastating injuries.

She was given urgent pain relief when she was handed to shocked staff at the animal hospital.

And she underwent the drastic surgery on Thursday morning to remove the distinctive bolts.

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Staff believe she was shot by two yobs at the same time because the bolts went in at different angles.

Angry vet Steve Dixon, of Calder Veterinary Group, said: "We think there were two people firing two separate crossbows at the same time at point blank range. There is no way she would have just sat there after being hit by the first one."

He added: "In all my years as a vet I have never seen anything like this. It's disgusting. It's one of the most extreme cases of cruelty I have ever encountered. It is easy to tell when dogs are in a horrific amount of pain since they fail to eat and have a high heart rate."

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Mr Dixon said: "I think at the time it must have been incredibly painful for her and she didn't eat until after the operation but she was surprisingly calm and brave."

He said that one of the bolts has gone in above the eye at the top of the head leaving Beau with nasty grazing on her nose.

The second bolt went in behind the right eye and came out under the left ear.

After surgery to remove the bolts, Mr Dixon said: "We don't know her name, she should probably be called Lucky - although we have named her Beau. One of the bolts was four or five inches into her skull, quite near the brain.

"It's amazing that it missed all the vital parts of her head as it went straight through the middle. It just goes to show how lucky we are that dogs have quite small brains."

He added: "It's likely that, because it's such a friendly dog, it has been beckoned towards whoever has shot it and they have then shot it at point blank range twice in the head - they've tried to kill it.

"There is an argument that this sort of thing is just a step away from shooting people, because they think they can get away with it."

Beau, who will be kept at the hospital for four or five days, is thought to be around four years old and has some skin conditions, suggesting she may have been homeless for a while although staff are appealing for a possible owner to come forward.

The crossbow arrows were maroon coloured aluminium with silver tips and red and yellow fletchings.

Mr Dixon added: "These are quite distinctive arrows so there can't be many people wandering around with a pair of these crossbows."

A police spokeswoman said: "We would appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time, or anyone who has any information about this to contact us on 0845 6060606."