This electrical cord was found around the neck of a dead dog in Brookside. (SPCA)

The Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is looking for the people responsible for hanging a dog from a tree in the Brookside area near Truro.

The dog's body, which was frozen solid, was found recently at the base of a tree on Starflower Road.

"It is just horrible to see a defenceless animal left dead in the snow like that," Sean Kelly, chair of the investigations committee with the SPCA, said in a release. "The horrible thing about this act is that the dog was cut down, but left with the cord around his neck which shows us that the killers actually watched him die then cut him down — it's simply tragic."

The SPCA describes the dog as a large-breed, tan-colored male with black on his snout and as possibly being a Mastiff mix. The extension cord around the animal's neck is white with a large yellow round, three-prong plug. The plug also has "#6" written on it in black marker.

"This is a very sick individual who absolutely had criminal intent," Kelly told CBC News. "And this person, you know, I think that it's fearful to have somebody in our community that would do this to an animal. There have been scientific ties with people who abuse animals to people who abuse other people."

The Nova Scotia SPCA is seeking any information the public may have about the incident, including help in identifying the dog or about any organization that would use an extension cord such as that found around the animal's neck.