Wants No Blame For Actor's Suicide (Or His Dog's Euthanasia)
Follow up:
Condo Ass. Member wants no blame for this.
This week, an Upper West Side soap opera actor committed suicide, and the NY Post alleged that in his suicide note he said it was because he was wracked with guilt and grief over euthanizing his beloved pet dog Rocco. Nick Santino euthanized Rocco this past Tuesday—on Santino’s 47th birthday—after being under pressure from his apartment condo to get rid of the dog. Marilyn Fireman, a board member at his building at 1 Lincoln Plaza, responded to the allegations: “I’m sorry the man is dead, but it has nothing to do with the pet policy. You just assumed that [his suicide] was a result of a board’s decision.”
According to close friend Stuart Sarnoff, Santino wrote in the suicide note: "Today I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend...Rocco trusted me and I failed him. He didn't deserve this." Santino, whose TV credits include “All My Children” and “Guiding Light” (you can see his demo reel here), had been feeling "harassed" by his building management company, according to various neighbors and friends. The building had announced strict new dog regulations in 2010, including a ban on pit bulls like Rocco. Although Rocco was grandfathered in, that allegedly didn't stop him from being harassed. “People were complaining about his dog,” said neighbor Kevan Cleary. “It was open season on him.”
Sandra Tarr, whom Santino called Tuesday night after he euthanized Rocco (the Post refers to Rocco as a "healthy, 5-year-old dog") and before he overdosed on pills, mourned him on Facebook. “Nick Santino, you were so dear and special to me and when you called me on Tuesday and cried and told me you didn’t want to live anymore, I should have called 911." She later added, "Why didn’t I just take Rocco when you called me back in November...Why, why, why. ?????????????”
Santino, who was raised in an orphanage and foster homes, previously wrote about Rocco on Facebook: “I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me.” According to his sister Catherine Schmidt, the family has put off funeral arrangements until Rocco can be cremated, and the two can be buried together: “I knew his dog was important to him,” she cried. “The dog was abused and he saved him.”
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