Posted on 01/28/2012 1:22:15 PM PST by smokingfrog
A down-on-his-luck soap-opera actor took his own life this week after he was forced to put his beloved dog to sleep under pressure from his New York City condo, friends said.
Nick Santino euthanized his dog, Rocco, on Tuesday, on Santino's 47th birthday. That night, his guilt over the gut-wrenching decision became too much to bear.
"Today [Tuesday], I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend," he wrote in a suicide note, according to close friend Stuart Sarnoff. "Rocco trusted me, and I failed him. He didn't deserve this."
Santino -- a struggling actor whose TV credits include "All My Children" and "Guiding Light" -- adopted pit bull Rocco from a shelter several years ago.
The Brooklyn-born performer, who was raised in an orphanage and foster homes, soon began to write about his pet on Facebook, saying, "I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me."
But in 2010, his building at 1 Lincoln Plaza announced strict new dog regulations, including a ban on pit bulls. The ban did not apply to pit bulls already in the building, but friends and neighbors said Santino began to feel harassed.
"People were complaining about his dog," according to neighbor Kevan Cleary, 63, an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. "It was open season on him."
Rocco could not ride in the main elevators and was not allowed to be left in the apartment alone for more than nine hours.
Santino then was threatened with a $250 fine for having a barking dog, neighbors said.
The building's management refused to comment Friday.
After months of increasing anguish, Santino had the healthy dog put to sleep Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxdfw.com ...
not allowed to be left in the apartment alone for more than nine hours.
Sad story but obviously this guy had more than a few problems and should not have even had a dog that he would leave alone for 9 hours or more. The stress on the dog being couped up for hours wouldn’t exactly be beneficial to the emotional or physical health of the dog.
A dog suffers when it has to pee and knows he is not to pee inside. That alone is cruelty. Dogs crave attention and a sense of belonging. There are too many people who selfishly have dogs who shouldn’t.
How terribly sad is this? I hope there are some people searching their souls today about the way they treated the man and his dog.
So sorry for your loss. Been there so I understand. Good luck.
I’m sure all that is true, but this dog was healthy.
Nope, you’re the first to raise the subject.
“...I just think it is indicative that he had serious problems when he decided he had no other options.”
Yes, that is a given, and makes the story even sadder.
Liberalism leads to the hopelessness and despair such that someone kills themselves over a dog.
Healthy societies don’t have adult men killing themselves over a dog or harassment.
The suicide over dog was not the problem, it was a symptom of the problem that is eating away at civilization.
I would agree. A sad story, I hope the two find each other on the the other side of the bridge.
Sounds like he was a mental case. I have lost many beloved pets never considered killing myself.
Count me out. If my dog goes through the ice, he's on his own. I'll jump in for my kids, though. But even when I was single, and had a dog, he'd be on his own.
That's really the heart of the story. I agree, but would add "adoptive parents" to biological parents.
Why is the FR wall filled with so many members who have taken their own lives?
Really sad.
Find yourself another home, you're contaminating this website. You don't belong here.........
well, THAT puts things in perspective.
Your sister is blessed to have her strong faith to suffer through the unbearable. It doesn’t appear that Mr Santino was so fortunate in that regard. He seems to have been completely untethered, except to Rocco.
It was a dog...a dog! Take it to the animal shelter. Besides a dog of that size in a condo?
It may have been posted I haven’t read all the post here but he should have tried a shock collar. Fredd our new dog used to bark I only had to use it a few times, it is a collar that has a high piched squeal and a shock. I don’t even put it on him now just show him the remote.
“Could have moved”? First of all, the NYC real estate market right now is crap. Homes for sale aren’t moving, and if they are, it’s for far less than the original asking price. Second, you need a down payment to buy a new home, and perhaps this OUT OF WORK young man lacked enough funds for that. Third, NYC shelters are FULL of pit bulls and pit crosses thanks to drug dealer scum and ghetto trash backyard breeders, so the no-kill places must turn you away. If he had brought the dog to a city shelter, it would have been euthanized within 3 days. I suppose he thought at least he could be with his pal at the end if he did it himself.
So don’t give out pat, glib answers. You only embarrass yourself by showing how thoughtless you are. Walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins, you might be less likely to condemn.
I felt HORRIBLE about this story all the way around, and I condemn no one except the SHALLOW VICIOUS neighbors. They should rot in hell for putting an already pressured young man under more pressure that he didn’t need. They could not even spell the word “compassion”, let alone practice some. Sometimes a pet is all you have and all that keeps you hanging on. Check the medical literature.
does that loving mother and father HAVE to be biological??
can an ADOPTED loving mother and father work as well??
This family is a loving adopted mom and pop and our son and daughter have always had a dog in their lives from day one..and when they grew up and began their own homes the first thing they did was get a dog...
And I hope they are certain FReepers.......but that's usually too much to ask.
This place ain't like it used to be........
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