It's Friday; just shake your head...

It is obvious from this photo that this dog has been through some trauma. Happened near Marshall Texas, we undertand from the city's Animal Control Officer Eva Sepulvado

The dog's backside and paws are raw from being dragged behind a car. (This photo is much nicer than the wounds appear.)

It's an awful enough story -- and it may not be the only one near this East Texas city.

Officer Sepulvado says she got a call from a local vet's office "about a dog one of their clients had found on the side of a rural road. They advised the dog was a young neutered male boxer and that he had been drug apparently on purpose behind a car. The rope was still tied around his neck.

"While it might well be impossible to determine who did it - I have contacted the local sheriff's office and requested they investigate, as this is the second dog .... drug behind a car [recently in the area].... I told them [the vet's staff] sight unseen to work on the dog, knowing my rescue friends would help this poor baby out. I got pictures of his injuries and they are BAD - he will require a long time to recover completely."

To help Eva with this case, either as a witness or as someone who wants to help this boxer, e-mail sepulvado-aco@hotmail.com or call her at 903-935-4530.

To donate to the boxer's fund, contact the Allred Veterinary Clinic in Marshall at 903-938-6629.

AND THEN THE TV STORY: Charlie the Dog was also dragged behind a car -- this happened west of Dallas/Fort Worth in Palo Pinto County. KXAS, Channel 5, ran a story on the 10 o'clock news last night -- the guy claimed to be leading his dog on a leash as he drove along in a pickup in Mineral Wells, west of Fort Worth. Click HERE to see the story that appeared in the Mineral Wells Index. Charlie the Dog wound up in the vet's office with mutilated paws and other injuries. And click HERE to go to the Palo Pinto County Humane Society, which has taken an interest in this dog.

PERSPECTIVE: The lead item and the Charlie story would seem to indicate there is no shortage of village idiots in some parts of my beloved Texas.

And, trust me, we're not losing our perspective on the news -- we know that a would-be car thief dragged a man to death in Arlington yesterday. (Click HERE to see the Fort Worth Star-Telegram story.

What in the world is wrong with people? How does someone's sweet baby grow up to be such a fiend? Such a hazard to society? Good grief, we've been asking these questions all our lives. And people still abuse animals and children and still kill each other.

Sorry to unload on a Friday, but every now and then the state of mankind is overwhelmingly stupid.

Let's look for something more uplifting -- try to turn the tide of the tone of this month so far.

SOME PUPPIES TO SMILE ABOUT: Good grief, wash your brain out with these puppies.

This is a gaggle of puppies.

They're sort of beyond a "litter" when they get to this stage -- gaggle might be the right world. "Litter" suggests some organization, but these 8 Lab mix pups seem to be focused only in strapping on their personal feed bags.

Their photo comes to us courtesy of Sydney Busch of the Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake. She sent it on behalf of rescuer Tina Hamilton who has been fostering the pups. They were born on April 1. To ask about adopting one or more, e-mail txtina1201@yahoo.com.

In the meantime, in another tip from the folks at the lake, these pups are up for adoption, too. There are 8 of them -- six are black and two are white with black ears.

The mother is a 25-pound "Beagle??-Catahoula?? mix," according to the folks who have been working with all nine dogs.

The story is the mother "showed up at the house, gave birth, then charmed the people. They are keeping her while trying to place the puppies."

To ask about adopting any or all or a share of this group, call Tommy Perkins at 903-340-4970.

DOGS IN NEED: Mary Ann Nastro reports that the English Pointer at Collin County Animal Shelter continues to need rescuing -- "The marks on the dog's face are probably not mange, but an old injury," she reports. Collin County releases only to the SPCA or, after the SPCA has had first dibs, to a rescue group. This dog is said to be sweet and gentle and young. And it's thought by some that the marks are her face are leftover from crawling under a fence. To ask about how to adopt this dog, contact Mary Ann Nastro at siberianxpress1@tx.rr.com or call 214-537-4771. ... We also hear from Pam Sylva, formerly of ROAR (Reach Out Animal Rescue) in Henderson County, that the group has a number of dogs that need to be claimed or fostered E-mail her at xylona2003@yahoo.com.

SPCA SHOW BIZ NOTE: The SPCA of Texas has extended its deadline for the PetFlix Film Festival entries to May 30. You can see the rules by going to the SPCA website, www.spca.org, and clicking on the PetFlix logo. The big festival is from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at the Granada Theater. Tickets are $12:50 and are available at www.granadatheater.com or www.petflix.org.  Check out the prizes -- very fetching.

FOUND IN DALLAS: Denise Victor is looking for help with two dogs -- they've been in custody for weeks -- they were found one after the other in the are of Military Parkway not far from Dolphin Road in Dallas. And there were complications, of course.

Denise says, "I was driving home on Thursday before Easter when I saw a white dog standing up with his paws on the fence of a business not far from my house. I stopped the car and he came running up. When I got out he ran back to the fence and sat down. I could tell he was scared. I thought he might belong to the people who owned the business because it looked like he was trying to get back in. I talked to him and put some food down. I could tell he wasn't a vicious dog, just really scared. Totally out of his element.

"I went out of town on Friday so I called my friend Vickie (the other crazy dog lady) and asked her to check on him."

Vickie did and to shorten Denise's story somewhat, by Monday, it was clear the dog didn't belong at the business and that the dog was injured.

Denise says that on Monday morning she "spent a couple of hours letting the dog get used to me and eventually got a leash on him. He came with me but wouldn't get in the car. I called my vet and they sent a tech down with their van. He put a blanket over the dog's head and picked him up. The dog never tried to bite us or acted aggressive towards us even though he was in a lot of pain and really scared. He went right from the van into the vet's office without any hesitation.

"He was so good up on the table while he got examined. The vet said it looked like he'd been bitten by another dog. I'm not sure if he was like that Thursday but by Monday it was infected and needed attention. Luckily no stitches. They cleaned him up, neutered him, gave him his shots and drew blood to make sure he didn't have any diseases. He passed with flying colors. The vet named him Petey. I stopped to see him everyday he was there and he is 65 pounds of sweetness. He gave me lots of kisses and the vet and staff fell in love with him.

"Now the dilemma.......what would I do with him. I certainly could not take him home with my 4 dogs & 2 cats. I spent all day Monday calling every humane society and rescue organization I found. On Wed. I got a call back from Red River SPCA and they game me Michelle Crouse's name, she's an advocate of the bully breeds. I called her and she agreed to take him.

"That same Monday, driving home from the vet, I saw a little puppy crossing a busy street. So of course I stopped and scooped him up. He spent the week with me and since he was a mixed pit Michelle agreed to take him, too. He's had his first set of shots...Another healthy guy."

And, now, both need a home. To help Denise, e-mail Denise.Victor@Mattel.com or call 214-530-9133.

There are people in Dallas who claim NEVER to see loose dogs -- must be because other people are picking them up two at a time.

TEAMWORK: Our Corsicana tipster, Julie Maupin of the Humane Society of Navarro County, sends us a follow up to last weekend's Third Annual Derrick Days Adoption Event at the city's annual festival honoring its oil heritage. There were nine dogs available at the adoption -- all were adopted. And so were the 18 cats from the Corsicana city shelter. The event was a combination of efforts by Humane Society members and the workers at the Corsicana Animal Shelter.

And, no, they didn't include a famed Collin Street Bakery Fruitcake with each adoption, though if they figured they could empty the shelter that way, I'll bet they might just try it.

SAVING THE BOXERS: We hear from our tipsters with Legacy Boxer Rescue that the group is $1,547 short of it's $6,000 goal in its current fundraising effort. There are a dozen boxers -- probably more -- that will benefit from this drive. Click HERE to see some of the boxers in need, including this one, a girl named Twinkle, and to see how to donate to Legacy.

In the mail-out to potential donors, the Legacy group writes, "We realize times are tough right now with the cost of gas and groceries, so we appreciate each and every dollar that is donated."

Heck, if times are tough for humans who have a little money, you can imagine how tough they are for dogs and cats that have none.

THE BACKYARD DOG: On Wednesday we ran a photo of a frightened dog that had been abandoned in the backyard of a Dallas home.

That's the photo of that dog on the left.

And, on the right, that's the latest photo of the dog, complete with a little golden glow lighting. Yes, her probably may not have been so much fright as it was shame for being caught living in a backyard when she is so obviously a couch dog.

Dottie, they're calling her.

She'd been living alone in the backyard for two months -- family just up and moved, we're told.

During the hour-long effort to capture her and get her into a crate, she never growled or showed aggression. She was simply in a panic.

She's getting along well with dogs in her foster home. And she's healthy. And she needs a home.

To ask about adopting Dottie and giving the poor dog her rightful place on the family couch, e-mail Patti Henslee at patti@jackoboyle.com or call 214-405-3150.

AND IT'S A PRIZE-WINNING DOCUMENTARY: Got this note in the wee hours early today from the very proud Sharie Vance who made the film Shelter Walkers. "I'm proud to announce that it received the 'Best Documentary' award at the North Lake College Video Festival tonight." She says this adds to the honorable mention the film got last month in Austin at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association competition. Click HERE to see the prize-winning film.

KIND OF MAKES A PERSON SMILE: I have no experience at naming Guinea pigs, but I think this is a great name for one of these little beasts: Springroll.

(And a special thanks to Cary Birdwell of Adopt-a-Dallas Pet for forwarding the story to me.)

Springroll is an American Crested Guinea Pig who was born on Feb. 3, 2006.

He's one of the many critters available through Texas Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue at www.theguineapigrecue.com or by calling 817-430-9681 or 214-587-8175.

The adoption fee is $25.

And coincidentally, Texas Rustlers' Third Annual Hoedown is from 11 am. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Grapevine Convention Center, 1209 S. Main, Grapevine. It's free and you can learn about Guinea Pigs and other critters.

I don't know if Springroll has siblings, but I' thinking there might be an Eggroll or Jellyroll. And if you had a singing Guinea Pig you could call him Bankroll.

WHO VISITS READLARRYPOWELL.COM? Ever wonder who's looking at these stories and advertisements on www.readlarrypowell.com? We're pretty certain that we've captured a bit of the intelligentsia.

One recent weekend morning this distinguished older gentleman and his cat clicked in to read our regular feature "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap." Through a modern technological wonder called the Look-n-back Texas Pixel Capture Program we are able to click on the Print Screen key and capture whomever has just clicked into the site. In the future, be sure to have proper attire when visiting Readlarrypowell.com.

Oh, I'm kidding. I just wanted an opportunity to write "Look-n-back Texas."

This is actually my baby brother, Garry, and one of his cats, Gizmo. Garry  -- known throughout the family as "Uncle Garry" -- and his patient wife, Aunt Brenita, recently got a new whizbang MAC and it came with a built-in camera. So, Garry sent this photo and explained that he is teaching Gizmo to operate the new computer.

I can only assume that the extraordinarily hairy and bright Gizmo snapped the photo.

CONTEMPLATIONS: Avery Johnson, the Dallas Mavericks ex-coach, would have made a great mayor two years ago -- true or false? ... Can anyone really keep up with all the different models of cars? Or tell them apart? If you tell a sales agent that you want a "green car," do you get a car that's green? ... A guy who speaks in cliches doesn't have much to run up the flagpole.