A dog has been found alive with a 20-inch bolt firmly embedded into his skull.

The animal was spotted by passersby in a remote piece of woodland near Wansford, Peterborough, England on Wednesday morning and taken to vets, who immediately performed emergency surgery on Ziggy to remove the bolt.

It is not known how long he was left in the woodlands  for The RSPCA says Ziggy would have been in “complete agony” for the whole time the weapon was sticking out of his head.

Fortunately, the crossbow had deflected off the skull, “miraculously” missing his brain, ear capsule and eyes by millimetres.

RSPCA inspector Justin Stubbs said whoever shot the animal must have done so intentionally, at “very close range”. He described the animal’s ordeal as “heart-breaking”.

“I think they must have been aiming at the back of the head and Ziggy must have moved at just the right distance right at the last minute,” he said.

“I don’t know whether they then took him deep into the wood and dumped him, or had already taken him into the wood and so just left him there, injured.

“What we are quite sure about is that poor Ziggy was probably roaming about in the middle of nowhere for a couple of days with this bolt stuck in his head. He would have been terrified, and in complete agony.

“It really broke my heart this one. What really got me was the way Ziggy sat there, with that bolt through his head, wagging his tail at me in such a good natured way - asking for a bit of a fuss.”

He said the next few days will determine whether Ziggy will recover fully from the attack.

“It is miraculous that the bolt missed all his organs, but he’s not out of the woods yet. With these kind of nasty wounds infection can be very dangerous and the next couple of days will be key to seeing how he recovers.”