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 ...
I adopted Glamorous Glennis (G.G.) several years ago. She was my third pitbull I adopted from a rescue. I knew my limits were that I could only be responsible for one at a time.
Anyway, about two years after adopting her, I seperated from my wife...long story, not important. GG was my only companion for two years after that. She even saved my life once.
In 2009, my landlord did not turn on the heat and we had a sudden cold spell. The temperature in my apartment dropped below freezing. I know this because a glass of water I had next to the bed had frozen.
I did not have many blankets...the ex made sure I had a huge financial hole to dig out of.
I woke in the morning and GG was curled up next to me. Her 106F body temp is the only thing that kept me from freezing to death over night.
About a year ago, one of the renters in my apartment complex complainewd that my dog was always barking. I knew this to be false because though GG suffered from seperation anxiety that was developed before she was rescued, I had her trained well, plus had a shock collar on her that kept her quiet.
What I found out was going on was that this renter would come pound on my door until GG started barking. I happened to be home one day instead of at work...sick. THe lady had no idea I was home.
Well, one day, she got GG barking and called the landlord and he heard GG barking over the phone. He gave me a month to get rid of her or move out.
I looked but found no places that would rent to me as long as I had a dog.
So, I had to give her to the Humane Society. Like the man in the OP’s story, I was on the edge of suicide because I thought I condemned my best friend to death.
Fortunately, I found out she was rescued once again and adopted out.
And the b*tch who complained about my dog...she moved out a week after I got rid of my dog.
I found out by talking to other renters that she was planning on robbing my apartment and was trying to get rid of the dog. After I got rid of GG, the woman saw my cleaning one of my pistols on my porch. She decided to move on to greener pastures and not risk being shot by me if I happened to be home.
At first, the general population of Ukrainians were happy when Germany invaded because believing they were going to be liberated from the Satanic Stalin. The Nazi's were promising independence for Ukraine. They later found out that Hitler came to rob Ukraine of everything of value; food from their pantry, grain they had harvested, their children, their young men / women to be used as a labor force. People were starving by the thousands every day. Many say this genocide of Ukrainians was between 5 million to 8 million.
The jist of this un-dog story [thanks for bearing with me] is that my grandfather remained behind because he absolutely refused to let the Nazis take his beloved two teams of loyal work horses. They were his pride and joy. In an act of defiance, he killed his horses and took his own life in the barnyard.
We don't always know what is in the hearts and minds of those who take their own lives and those of their animals. Pride? Stubbornness? Grandma always said that it was his way of telling God that he quit, [anathema to the way he conducted his life], yet providing a future for his wife and children. Alone and frightened, she entered the US through Ellis Island to start a new life.
This graph shows the table shows the tremendous drop in livestock due to slaughter by peasant farmers:
| Livestock in Ukraine | ||||
| Horses | Cattle | Sheep | Hogs | |
| 1928 | 5,300,000 | 8,600,000 | 8,100,000 | 7,000,000 |
| 1935 | 2,600,000 | 4,400,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Source: Ukrainian Encyclopedia, page 1064 | ||||
My mom lost her horse to the Nazis. She still cries about him. He saved her life (as she fled the Soviets).
A better question is why did this guy not anticipate this reaction? A pit bull in an apartment building? I have nothing against pit bulls, but lots of people do.
If he had chosen a pet suitable for the situation, I bet both of them would still be around.
Or, he should have waited until he had a place more suited for a pit bull.
Our family regrets not getting oral histories from this generation. I hope you are able to do that. God Bless your mother.
What a sad story and wrong in so many ways. Wish he had found some help.
(( ping ))
Thanks for your post 99. What you wrote makes a lot of sense, and you presented the material in a nice way...I’m not accustomed to that on this thread, though I must admit my considerable hostility towards the other poster.
I know about Dr. Theodore Dalrymple (which is not his real name, as you probably know). He’s a very insightful man.
Your closing remark about dysfunctional parents producing dysfunctional children is very true. I had come across a number of them in my extended family and have seen this first-hand. It made such a strong impression on me and that combined with a number of other factors in my more immediate family (very painful ones) made me conclude at age 18 that I would never have children. And I didn’t. And have I never regretted that decision.
In retrospect, that decision has made it possible for me to sleep better at night nowadays because I have no children who would have to live in a country radically changed by the political situation. I am not concerned about myself since I am quite old in a family noted for its short longevity; if things turn bad I won’t be around long to suffer.
That doesn’t mean that I am unconcerned and I certainly will do all I can to fight off these malevolent powers threatening the country in which I grew up, and which I appreciate for all the freedoms it offers.
Anyway, again, thanks for the nice informative post. Women are so much nicer than a lot of men.
This isn’t a dog story as much as a very emotionally damaged person who didn’t see an option for the dog.
Dogs are so much smarter than people.
All I can say is that WITCH that broke up you & GG should ROT in H*L* !!!!
I think under these circumstances, if I was a young healthy male, I would take to the highway before I would put my best friend down and then off myself.
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