MYRTLE BEACH — Police found a dog hanging and wrapped in a cable tether after neighbors in the 6200 block of Frontage Road complained about barking.

Police responded four times between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. Monday morning, but couldn’t find the dog neighbors had heard in the first three visits. About 7 a.m., animal control officers with Myrtle Beach police heard the faint whining of a dog coming from a home on Blynn Drive, directly behind Frontage Road where the complaints originated.

A red-nosed male pit bull was found hanging from a wooden dog house in a back yard, according to police. The dog was tangled in a cable tether that had wrapped around his body and was embedded in his abdomen that pulled on his collar and was choking him, police said.

Hector Rolando Lopez, 21, of Myrtle Beach was woken and freed his dog, which immediately collapsed and struggled to breathe, police said.

The dog was taken to the humane society where he died about an hour later from exhaustion, strangulation and internal organ damage, according to police.

Lopez was charged with ill treatment of animals and was transported to the Myrtle Beach jail.

Contact AMANDA KELLEY at 626-0381.