TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two 19-year-old males violently attacked a pet store clerk in Changhua’s Yuanlin City on Sunday evening (June 25).

The two males, surnamed Chen (陳) and Chang (張), traveled from Yilan to a pet store in Changhua to purchase a poodle, reported ETToday. They returned again in the evening with a bag of weapons and attacked the store clerk, surnamed Lin (林).

The two men first sprayed Lin with pepper spray, which also affected two female shop assistants. Then one of the men slashed Lin's forearm with a machete, severing it between the elbow and wrist.

Lin also suffered nine separate stab wounds to his body. Eyewitnesses report that after Lin’s right forearm was severed, blood flowed profusely and he fell to the floor.

Police arrested the two suspected assailants shortly after arriving on the scene. Police initially said the incident was sparked by a shopping dispute, but local media speculated that given the brutality of the attack, it may have involved more than pet shopping.

Lin had been employed by the pet store for two years. It is suspected the attack could have been contracted to gang-related debt collectors.

Lin is in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. The two attackers are in police custody and await charges of suspicion of homicide, serious injury, and property damage.