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San Diego creative dog groomer gives makeovers to shelter dogs being overlooked

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San Diego creative dog groomer gives makeovers to shelter dogs being overlooked


SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — So many dogs need forever homes, but sometimes good dogs in shelters, go unnoticed.

If only there was a way to draw more attention to them — that’s where a well-known local dog grooming artist comes in.

At the San Diego Humane Society campus in El Cajon, the day has come for groomer Gabriel Feitosa to meet Gram-Gram, an American Pit Bull Terrier mix with a big grin and an even bigger affectionate kiss.

Gram-Gram is about to get a makeover, but not an ordinary one.

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“We are giving Gram-Gram some leopard spots. She is 11 years old so I want to make sure she looks young and fresh and gets the most attention that she can get,” says Gabriel.

Attention she needs, because according to the San Diego Humane Society, Gram-Gram has been passed over again and again for months. SDHS public relations director Nina Thompson says there are a couple of reasons for that.

“She’s a senior dog. She’s 11 years young and she’s a bigger dog. She’s about 55 pounds and those dogs are typically a little bit harder to adopt.”

So Gabriel volunteers his time, talent and staff about once a month to turn sweet but shunned dogs into showstoppers. He applies the dye, formulated for pets, freehand. Many people may recognize him or his work. Two years ago he made it to the finals of the ABC dog grooming competition show “Pooch Perfect” and he has a salon in North Park where he has transformed people’s pets into giraffes, pandas, even Pokémon characters. He started helping shelter pets in December 2022.

“This is the 20th dog, our 20th transformation.”

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Now it’s time for a bath.

“So now we’re just doing a quick shampooing on this baby, and then some conditioner,” says Gabriel as Gram-Gram shakes off showering him with water. That’s how Gabriel sometimes ends up with spots too.

Once Gram-Gram is dry it’s back to the main room, but all this care is not without controversy. Some are concerned about the safety of the dyes.

“The dyes that we use are completely nontoxic. It’s made for dogs,” Gabriel says, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’ve seen everything about the dog grooming industry, and I would never do anything to ever harm or make a dog uncomfortable.”

Nina says the San Diego Humane Society would also never sign off on this if it were harmful and that the grooming brings an added benefit.

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“The really nice thing is that he’s getting these dogs out of their kennels. Typically they lie in their kennel most of the day waiting for an adopter to notice them.”

For Gabriel it goes even deeper. It goes back to his tough childhood.

“So growing up in the Favela in Brazil, it’s very easy for you to get into the wrong path. You know, because most kids start working when they’re very young as long as sometimes they can find a way out. I felt like dogs were a blessing or I was lucky enough to have found them because they kept me focused.”

Now the focus is on Gram-Gram as her new temporary spotted fur dries.

When asked how grateful SDHS is that Gabriel volunteers his time and his talent Nina responds, “I don’t even think I can put it into words. It’s really priceless.”

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While a leopard may not be able to change its spots, sometimes with a little help a dog that needs to, can.

“I want to do for them what they did for me. I want to save a dog the way they saved me.”

Gabriel and his staff also give other overlooked dogs standard grooming so they’ll look their best. His creative grooming can run anywhere from $500 to $1200, but the shelter gets his services free of charge. Nina says so far, every dog Gabriel has transformed has found a forever family within days after being overlooked for months.





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San Diego, CA

Arizona Diamondbacks end 3-game losing streak, pound San Diego Padres | TSN

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Arizona Diamondbacks end 3-game losing streak, pound San Diego Padres | TSN


PHOENIX (AP) — Ketel Marte and Joc Pederson homered to back Ryne Nelson’s return to the mound and the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday, defeating the San Diego Padres 11-4.

The Diamondbacks roughed up Padres starter Matt Waldron (1-4), who gave up eight runs (seven earned) and eight hits in three innings.

Marte’s two-run homer and Corbin Carroll’s two-run single came in a four-run first inning.

San Diego, which had its four-game winning streak end, came back with three in the second on Jackson Merrill’s two-run homer and Kyle Higashioka’s RBI double against Nelson (2-2), who was activated from the injured list to make the start.

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But Arizona answered with two more runs in its half of the inning on RBI hits from Jake McCarthy and Christian Walker.

Pederson’s homer, a two-run shot to right, came off Jhonny Brito, who relieved Waldron in the fourth when Arizona had another four-run inning.

McCarthy had three hits to lead the Diamondbacks, who finished with 13 hits. Arizona went 2-4 on its homestand.

Nelson lasted five innings, throwing 99 pitches. He allowed eight hits and four runs, walking one and striking out three. He last pitched April 18 at San Francisco, when the right-hander took a line drive off his pitching elbow.

To make room for Nelson, Arizona optioned left-hander Brandon Hughes to Triple-A Reno.

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PADRES ADD INFIELDER

A day after acquiring Luis Arraez from Miami, San Diego called up Donovan Solano from Triple-A El Paso. The 36-year-old hit .318 in 12 games with El Paso after being signed to a minor-league deal last month.

The Padres are Solano’s sixth big-league team. He hit .282 in 134 games for Minnesota last season. San Diego optioned Eguy Rosario to El Paso in a corresponding move.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said before the game that closer Paul Sewald (left oblique strain) will be going with the team on its upcoming road trip and could pitch as soon as Tuesday. Alek Thomas (strained left hamstring), sidelined since the first week of the season, also could return this week. Thomas is on a rehab assignment at Reno this weekend. … Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a scheduled day off.

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UP NEXT

Padres: RHP Yu Darvish (1-1, 3.45) starts Monday against the Cubs in Chicago.

Diamondbacks: Off Monday. Open a three-game series Tuesday in Cincinnati. Zac Gallen (3-2, 3.38) returns to the mound for the first time since April 26, when he left a start against Seattle with a strained right hamstring.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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San Diego, CA

UC San Diego increases long-term campus population estimate to 96,300

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UC San Diego increases long-term campus population estimate to 96,300


With UC San Diego’s campus population already exceeding projections made for a decade from now and further big increases expected, the university is updating its long-range development plan with an objective of creating more housing for students on the west end of the La Jolla campus.

The current plan, completed in 2018, was projected to take the campus through 2035. The revised plan would go through 2040.

The 2018 plan estimated the 2035 campus population at 65,600, including 42,400 students and 23,200 employees. The revised estimate, based on enrollment and staffing trends, projects a total of 96,300 students and employees by 2040.

However, UCSD’s student enrollment already has reached 43,381 as of last fall, according to a campus profile on the university website, with roughly 40,000 employees, according to the University of California.

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UCSD attributes the higher-than-projected growth to “demand for higher education and systemwide priorities to increase enrollment.”

A key driver for the plan update is “expanding access to students seeking a high-quality education” in accord with priorities set by the state, the UC system and UC San Diego over the past decade, according to UCSD spokeswoman Leslie Sepuka.

“It requires ongoing investments in infrastructure, classroom space as well as faculty and staff to enhance the student experience,” she said.

In March, a scoping meeting was held to go over the update and take feedback from residents.

“The university is committed to increasing availability of housing for students,” Sepuka said. “The goal is to provide on-campus housing to up to 65 percent of all students and continue to make progress toward a four-year undergraduate housing guarantee at below market rates for comparable units.”

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The campus currently houses a little more than 50 percent of its students with a two-year housing guarantee. Most of the student housing is on the west side, so proposed changes include building additional housing and replacing aging facilities.

The university projects a roughly 30 percent increase in new campus development, including more than 21 million square feet of new buildings on the west campus, a 5 million-square-foot increase from the 2018 plan. The revised plan also lists 567,000 square feet of development “nearby,” meaning not on campus.

No changes are proposed for the associated Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

UCSD says it already has added more than 11,000 new beds for student housing in the past 10 years, which it calls the largest such residential expansion in the country.

According to the university, the UC Board of Regents requires every campus in the UC system to have, and periodically update, a long-range development plan.

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The plan “defines how a campus will accommodate anticipated enrollment and the faculty and staff needed to support it. A [long-range development plan] is only a guide; it does not commit the campus to specific projects, as it must provide flexibility for changing conditions.”

Not everyone is convinced the expected changes are good.

Though area resident David Lebowitz said he feels the university “does a tremendous amount of good in terms of its research output and providing so many Californians with a high-quality education … I am also concerned about UC San Diego’s record of failing to complete student housing projects on time, the impact on the student experience of living in an increasingly crowded environment that is a perpetual construction zone, and the impact on traffic from such a dramatic increase in campus population.”

“The growth in staff and faculty is likely more impactful from a traffic standpoint, as nearly all will be commuting,” Lebowitz said. “The traffic impact from student growth is more difficult to predict and could depend in large part on how much on-campus student housing is actually built and what restrictions may be placed on student parking on campus.” ◆

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A&M squashes San Diego, advances to Super Regional – The Battalion

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A&M squashes San Diego, advances to Super Regional – The Battalion


The No. 17 Texas A&M men’s tennis team faced off against the No. 18 San Diego Toreros at the Mitchell Tennis Center in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, May 4. The Aggies managed to weather through the lightning delay midway through the match and defeat the Toreros 4-2.

The Aggies earned the right to play the Toreros after defeating the Rice Owls in a perfect sweep on May 3. The win also saw the Maroon and White move to the second round of play for the 17th year in a row.

A&M continued its doubles success from the first round, as it won the first match in lopsided fashion when the Frenchman combination of senior Raphael Perot and freshman Tiago Pires squashed San Diego’s team of graduate Savriyan Danilov and sophomore Lambert Ruland, 6-1.

Equalizing the score in doubles play, the San Diego duo of sophomore Oliver Tarvet and redshirt sophomore Stian Klaassen defeated the team of junior JC Roddick and freshman Lathan Skrobarcek at a rather fast pace, 6-1.

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Then, earning the doubles point for the Aggies, the Turkish and the Italian were to the rescue. The No. 14 duo of junior Giulio Perego and sophomore Togan Tokac defeated the Toreros’ No. 90 duo of redshirt senior Sacchitt Sharrma and junior Iiro Vasa, 6-3.

With a 1-0 lead, the Fightin’ Farmers kept the momentum rolling as junior Luke Casper secured the victory in two sets over San Diego’s Sharma, 6-3, 6-1.

Down 2-0, the Toreros proceeded to turn the tables, winning the next two matches. Klaasen was the first to put his name in the win column after taking down Pires in two sets, 6-4, 6-1. Tying things up at 2 for the Toreros, Danilov defeated Tokac in two sets, 6-2, 6-4.

With things looking up for San Diego, a lightning delay stopped both teams in their tracks. A&M benefited from the stop of play, as Perego proceeded to come out and make the score 3-2 after defeating Ruland in three sets, 7-3, 7-6 (10-8).

With the duel and a ticket to the Super Regional on the line, No. 42 Roddick clutched up for the Aggies. He came back after losing the first set to San Diego’s No. 85 Vasa, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

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A&M came out fast and did not let a stubborn San Diego squad stop it from coming away with the win. A&M will now move onto the Super Regional and compete on May 10 or 11 against Texas in Austin.



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