Soap actor despondent over dog’s forced euthanasia kills self
posted at 2:53 pm on January 28, 2012 by Howard Portnoy
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Animal lovers understand all too well the grief of losing a furry or other non-human companion. But for a New York actor who had appeared in TV soap operas, the loss of his beloved dog Rocco was more than he could handle—especially considering the circumstances. The dog, a pit bull, was perfectly healthy at the time it was destroyed.
Forty-seven-year-old Nick Santino, whose TV credits included roles in All My Children and Guiding Light, took his own life on Tuesday, the New York Post reports. Earlier in the day, he euthanized Rocco, which he had rescued from a shelter several years ago.
[Photo: Nick Santino and Rocco in better times]
Nick Santino knew all about shelters, having been raised himself in an orphanage and foster homes. He was fond of saying and even wrote on his Facebook page, “I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me.”
The decision to put down Rocco, possibly the most difficult Santino ever faced, was the result of non-stop pressure from neighbors in the Lincoln Center-area building where he lived. A regulation passed in 2010 prohibited tenants from owning pit bulls as pets. The rule was not retroactive, however: It did not apply to pit bulls already in the building, which included Rocco.
That did not deter Santino’s neighbors from harassing him and complaining to the building management about Rocco. The dog was not permitted to ride in the main elevators and was not allowed to be left in the apartment alone for more than nine hours.
Ulitmately, the anguish became overbearing. Santino, unable to find another home for Rocco, was left with no choice but the tragic one he ultimately made. After the deed was done, neighbors report that a tearful Santino brought dog treats and a fluffy bed to the building’s doorman and said, “Give these to the other dogs. Rocco is no more.”
One of those neighbors, James Steven Grant, is himself a dog owner. He found two rawhide bones on his doorstep. He is quoted as saying, “Rocco was the sweetest dog in the world. Rocco wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Next to Santino’s body, authorities found a suicide note reading:
Today I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend. Rocco trusted me and I failed him. He didn’t deserve this.
The same is certainly true of Santino.
Rocco was cremated, according to his owner’s instructions. A close friend, Stuart Sarnoff, has arranged for Santino’s remains to be cremated as well. “One way or another,” Sarnoff is quoted as saying, “their ashes will be together forever.”
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You’re kidding me right?
DStreete on January 28, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Well, it is sad…almost made me cry. Go ahead and laugh at me
chickie on January 28, 2012 at 3:17 PM
Oh Howard, now you went and done it, tears are streaming. Poor guy and poor pet. I know how he felt, I have had to put down numerous long time pets and it was horrible beyond belief. Without having children, our pets are our children and loved them dearly.
L
letget on January 28, 2012 at 3:19 PM
I am sorry for your loss. But I’m more sorry for humanity when I hear people say stupid crap like this.
If your dog and an unknown child were drowning would you save the dog first? If your own child and another child were drowning would you save your own child first? Dogs are not people. Stop this nonsense.
Capitalist Hog on January 28, 2012 at 3:39 PM
I’m surprised that with the help of the internet, he couldn’t have found a home or his dog.
Blake on January 28, 2012 at 3:50 PM
or = for
Blake on January 28, 2012 at 3:52 PM
Am sorry for the poor man but I don’t get it. Why didn’t he move? It’s not like he didn’t have plenty of time.
inviolet on January 28, 2012 at 3:52 PM
People think they could play God, but there’s nothing more cold than having to put down an animal you spent a lifetime caring for and teaching to trust you.
The act of killing the animal, while tragic, isn’t he hard part. It’s living with what you’ve done. Knowing that animal was healthy and trusted you with it’s life and was defenseless.
And for some, it’s too much.
HopeHeFails on January 28, 2012 at 4:03 PM
Yeah..thats sad.
But….he didn’t have to move, and other than his inability to deal with criticism, it could have been a big flying middle finger to the whiners. Certainly he could have had a friend pop in on any occasions that would have exceeded the 9 hr rule.
Or, as someone pointed out, he could have moved.
He murdered his dog and then he murdered himself because he was emotionally unstable. He should have gotten help before he killed….an old story.
Sorry. Thats the truth.
Mimzey on January 28, 2012 at 4:37 PM
This really breaks my heart, but I wish this man would have contacted a rescue organization. There are many pit bull rescue groups that would have taken Rocco no questions asked, and they would have done it free of charge…they get such a bad rap, so many groups bend over backwards to help them. We rescued a dachshund 4 years ago from a rescue org. While the foster mom was over with him, introducing us, she got a call from a woman who had been arranging to give up her doxie. She was about to lose her home, she was in terrible financial need, and a single mom. The foster mom asked if this woman could drop her dog off with her while she was at my home, since she was not too far away. I said sure. She came by with her son, and watching them give up their dog was just gut-wrenching. I was so impressed that they took the extra effort to make sure their pup was in good hands, rather than just drop her off in the pound, or try to give her to someone who might not have been a good owner. This guy probably figured he’d have a hard time finding an affordable apartment in NYC, so I can understand why he didn’t move, but I’m certain that 5 minutes online and he would have had several organizations to take his dog.
ellifint on January 28, 2012 at 5:21 PM
I guess Santino felt those “neighbors” were the best he could do . . .
Damn. I think I’d kill myself too if I lived in that building.
BigAlSouth on January 28, 2012 at 5:34 PM
This man had bigger problems than fights with his neighbors. I feel sorry for both man and dog. Mostly the dog. The man had choices, the dog did not.
But both are a peace now. God loves them both.
Pecos on January 28, 2012 at 6:03 PM
I have a hard time finding much sympathy for someone who would kill himself over the loss of a pet. I think that wasn’t the reason. Santino was obviously a deeply troubled man. For that, I can feel sorry.
Meryl Yourish on January 28, 2012 at 6:09 PM
Um…Move?
Obviously unable to come to any other conclusion is evident of a distressed and disturbed irrational man and that is terribly sad.
I thought actors were great fans and cheerleaders for therapy, certainly this man was in desperate need for such and did not seek it.
Opposite Day on January 28, 2012 at 6:55 PM
Maybe, he was too distressed and disturbed to seek therapy?
Also, I don’t think many of you know how difficult it is to find an affordable apt. in NYC.
Blake on January 28, 2012 at 7:18 PM
….but he didn’t have to move. He was in compliance.
Mimzey on January 28, 2012 at 8:49 PM
That’s as weak minded a fool as I’ve ever heard of.
single stack on January 28, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Yeah, after he put his dog down. Stop being an ahole.
You too, single stack. He had a psychiatric illness. Try to show some compassion. Or at least fake it so when the leftards troll this thread you don’t confirm every nasty thing they believe about conservatives.
Blake on January 28, 2012 at 9:58 PM
If the dog is the primary being in my life, absolutely. Same for if my kid were drowning. Just because you don’t put value on a pet in your family because you have others that you are also close to doesn’t mean someone else necessarily has the same situation.
MadisonConservative on January 28, 2012 at 11:11 PM
I feel bad for both the dog and especially his owner. It is hard to believe that anyone would kill themselves over a dog. It is such a horrendous waste.
I don’t think that this man committed suicide just because of the dog. Euthanizing the dog was clearly the event that triggered the act but there had to be a lot more that was wrong. More likely, the death of his beloved dog at his own hand was simply the last straw. One possible clue could be found in the guy’s personal history having been in foster care.
If the man was already depressed, then his rational thinking was probably already compromised. Someone questioned why he couldn’t find a good home for the dog. One, its probably really hard to place a pit bull in the first place. Two, the man’s standards may have been too high. Again, if he was already depressed, no home may have seemed good enough. He may not have been able to bear not living with his dog and acted unconsciously to sabotage any good possibility for placement. Yes, he could have moved. But moving may have seemed an insurmountably difficult task for him. I also doubt that he told anyone what he was really feeling. If you are already feeling hopeless, what point is there to seeking help?
What a tragic story.
Texene on January 28, 2012 at 11:45 PM
F you Blake. And F the trolls.
I have no compassion or sympathy for suicides. They’re cowards with no compassion or sympathy for the family they leave behind.
According to the article he was in compliance before he killed his dog. He just didn’t have the guts to face life.
And before you get any more self righteous, I know what it’s like to deal with suicide. I found the body of my chickens**t brother-in-law and had to be the one to tell his sister (my wife) and his mother and father.
That’s a hell of a lot tougher than dealing with a dead dog.
single stack on January 29, 2012 at 2:21 AM
No wonder people are voting with their feet in New York. Over one million people left NYC during the last decade alone according to the US Census.
I remember New York as a city of tolerance and forbearance. Apparently , that is not so true anymore.
Sad.
DevilsPrinciple on January 29, 2012 at 6:32 AM
Dang, Stack. Dial it back a bit.
So my grandfather and his son both killed themselves. The never-ending blackness of depression can be a pain that I hope you never have to experience. Yes, we can agree that suicide is a selfish act and chronic depression is a serious illness.
BigAlSouth on January 29, 2012 at 7:40 AM
I feel badly for his family. How sad to know your son took his life over something so trivial.
tom daschle concerned on January 29, 2012 at 7:57 AM
…..AND THEN THEY’LL BE SORRY…..
roy_batty on January 29, 2012 at 9:01 AM
Why didn’t he just move? He could have boarded the poor thing until he found a place. Or he could have gone through a pit bull rescue group, which he could easily have found on the Internet. This story makes no sense.
blackgriffin on January 29, 2012 at 9:16 AM
I agree. My husband’s cousin went to a forest preserve and blew his brains out. It was horrible on the family. They did their best to try to help the man, but in the end he couldn’t be helped. Suicidal people only care about themselves.
melle1228 on January 29, 2012 at 9:23 AM
You have it backwards. Most suicidal people think no one cares about them, so if they kill themselves, no one will care.
Two exceptions are when the person is terminal and suffering or when the person is fantasizing about “showing them” for not caring (usually teenagers who think they will be rescued from their suicide attempt), but neither situation appears to be the case here.
He was raised in an orphanage and foster homes. It sounds like he had no family. He obviously suffered from depression.
“I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me.” Then he killed Rocco because the complaints and harrassment from his neighbors and the building management were deepening his depression.
Then he realized what he had done. He had snuffed out the only bit of light in his life.
It is a sad tale of a desperately lonely man’s middle aged depression.
fadetogray on January 29, 2012 at 11:22 AM
Actually a lot of suicides have a “I’ll show them” mentality.
melle1228 on January 29, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Then what am I missing? The rule was not retroactive. Is this incorrect?
I agree, he was mentally ill/depressed.
That he didn’t seek help thats available is regrettable.
I have the same level of compassion for him that I have for someone who kills their spouse or other people before they kill themselves. It is obvious that this man saw his dog as another person…but he killed it first. I suspect that the man was suicidal and used his dog as an excuse.
How much compassion do you have for a person who kills before committing suicide?
Mimzey on January 29, 2012 at 12:30 PM
There is a profound difference here. When he put down his dog, he was bowing to the will of the collective. That is the opposite of what a person is doing when they murder a person before committing suicide.
Did he do the wrong thing? Was it horribly wrong?
Damn straight. I’m quite certain he would have been the first to tell you that before he killed himself.
fadetogray on January 29, 2012 at 1:42 PM
The discussion so far is missing this point:
Many people in our country, throughout the ideological spectrum, engage in relentless, and often hyperbolic, crusades against bullying when the people or causes they support are the alleged targets; how many of them see nothing wrong in bullying the people whose choices or causes they oppose?
AesopFan on January 29, 2012 at 2:56 PM
Actually, I would say most people that commit suicide don’t care if anyone cares. If someone is despondent enough to kill himself, no amount of caring from another person is going to stop them.
rickv404 on January 29, 2012 at 3:03 PM
I don’t see the difference as being all that different.
In both cases the person chooses to do what they do. They are perceiving a reality that may exist only in their own heads.
The article was written by another person. How is it that they know what the reasoning was? Was this person a friend?..what did they do to offer help?..or is the person who wrote the article just making it up? Answer?..it doesn’t matter. The person did what they did. Here is the odd part..the part where I find a connection to killing a person. HE thought of the dog as a person..if he can’t have it..no one can, so he killed it.
Mimzey on January 29, 2012 at 5:41 PM
Sorry, but the guy was a selfish, unstable tool. As others have already pointed out there were lots of solutions short of having the dog put down. Somewhere between moving out of the building (And why would he want to stay there anyway, with neighbors like that?) and giving the dog to one of the numerous rescue agencies out there, especially for that particular breed, he could have found a solution if he had really wanted one.
Instead, like a crazy mother facing a divorce who drowns her children in the bathtub because she thinks they’ll be miserable without her, this tool couldn’t put the animals safety and well- being ahead of his wants and needs.
Dukeboy01 on January 29, 2012 at 9:31 PM
This. He didn’t try to get his dog adopted, he didn’t send it to a shelter, he had it put down. If he loved the dog so much that he’d commit suicide over his regret, then his decision to instead kill the dog and then himself is exactly the same as a maternal murder-suicide. If people want to insist that childless people love their dogs the same way parents love their children (lolwut?) then the analogy is even more fitting.
RachDubya on January 30, 2012 at 12:29 AM
Maybe New Yorkers are like that.
But it seems to me that a sane person in that position would have been looking for a different and more accommodating place to live.
JEM on January 30, 2012 at 11:30 AM