I give up

perversetoamiracle:

strawbrryf:

thedailywhat:

Heartbreaking Tearjerker of the Day: A struggling soap actor who was allegedly harassed by his neighbors and condo board into euthanizing his beloved pet pit-bull mix took his own life last week, leaving behind a note saying he was racked with guilt over “betraying” his best friend.

Nick Santino, whose acting credits include recurring roles on All My Children and Guiding Light, committed suicide last Wednesday — a day after his 47th birthday — a few hours after euthanizing his dog, Rocco.

In 2010, the management at his Upper West Side building had imposed certain restrictions on dog owners and banned the housing of pit bulls. Since Rocco had already been living in the building, he was grandfathered in and allowed to stay.

Still, Santino’s friends say he was constantly harassed by neighbors and members of the condo board who wanted him to get rid of the dog. “People were complaining about his dog,” said neighbor Kevan Cleary. “It was open season on him.” Neighbor Lia Pettigrew concurred: “Everybody knows that he had been harassed by the building management.”

After someone complained that Rocco was barking, Santino was threatened with a $250 fine. “The dog was not a barker, but somebody complained that the dog would bark,” Cleary said. “He felt like he was in this battle because he was the only guy in the building with a pit-bull mix.”

Eventually, Santino felt he had no choice but to put Rocco to sleep. After the deed was done, Santino reportedly approached the building’s doorman and handed him Rocco’s dog treats. “Give these to the other dogs,” Santino said with tears in his eyes. “Rocco is no more.”

Shortly thereafter, the troubled Brooklyn-born orphan, who grew up in foster homes and was part of 9/11’s first search and rescue team, died of an apparent pill overdose.

“Today I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend,” Santino wrote in his suicide note. “Rocco trusted me and I failed him. He didn’t deserve this.”

Santino’s love for Rocco was well-known. Having adopted Rocco from a shelter, he sought to clarify their relationship on Facebook: “I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me.”

A condo board member who spoke with The Post refused to accept blame for Santino’s suicide. “I’m sorry the man is dead,” said board member Marilyn Fireman, “but it has nothing to do with the pet policy.”

Funeral plans for Santino are on hold at the moment. His relatives say they are waiting to receive Rocco’s cremated remains so they can be buried alongside his owner.

[post: 1,2 / imdb / gothamist.]

I’m sorry that he took his own life but putting your dog down is not the solution.  

You MOVE, you don’t kill your dog.  

Asshole.  

I don’t disagree, at all. (And clearly he didn’t either.) Putting the dog down was a shitty thing to do. But I also don’t feel comfortable condemning him, because there are all sorts of reasons why it might be practically impossible for someone to move, especially someone who is clearly depressed to begin with (and from the sound of it, had financial problems as well). And he obviously loved the hell out of that dog, so for him to have done this suggests he was under tremendous pressure, probably from sources not limited to his condo board and his asshole neighbors. So… yeah, having a pet killed because other people are harassing you about him is deeply shitty. But the people who were making his life more difficult are the ones who deserve the lion’s share of the blame here, not the guy with a mental illness who tried and failed to figure out a decent way to deal with his situation.

This guy ACTIVELY CHOSE to keep his apartment.  He lived at 1 Lincoln Plaza.  It’s one of the most expensive apartment building in NYC.  His apartment was easily worth north of $1 million.  The real estate market in NYC never tanked:  he could have sold and found a very dog-friendly housing elsewhere in the city.  Or for that matter, rented out his place to someone else and found a dog-friendly rental.    Yes, the people who harassed him and instituted those rules are shitty human beings.  But he didn’t have to deal with it.  He chose the apartment over the dog and frankly, the fewer people like that there are in this world, the better.