-Actor Nick Santino lived in a Manhattan apartment building that put up strict dog regulations in 2010
-His 5 year old pit bull mix Rocco was grandfathered in
-Tenants afraid of pit bulls poured complaints into the building management, even though the dog apparently never did anything to them
-Rocco was not allowed to ride in main elevators, and Santino was not permitted to leave dog alone in apartment for more than 9 hours at any time.
-Threatened with $250 fine for barking, although his neighbor on his floor states that the dog was not a barker.
-Building management pressures him to get rid of dog
-On Tuesday he has the dog euthanized; Wednesday morning leaves a note saying "Today I betrayed my best friend" and overdoses on pills.

http://gothamist.com/2012/01/28/acto...er_euthani.php

Why didn't he just move or why didn't he give the dog to someone else? Unfortunately, the chances of a 5 year old pit bull in NYC being placed successfully are not good. Re: why he didn't move, I'm sure there could be many good reasons ranging from having a poor credit score that would prevent him from getting accepted in a new building, or finding vacancy in a building that would accept his dog (the apartment occupancy rate in Manhattan is about 96% if I'm not mistaken - for dog friendly buildings it has to be less than 1% vacancy). Being a soap actor, he may have felt that he couldn't move out of Manhattan for professional reasons. In light of this fact, the pressure the building mgmt was putting on him was probably overwhelming, and probablty extended way past the dog issue as a result.

Or could he simply have been so beaten down with the harrassment that he ended up in a state of mind where he could no longer make a rational choice?

I feel bad for the dog. Not so much for him.

Poor dog.

When I read this story a few days ago, the headline read "Soap Opera Star Commits Suicide".

I then opened the article and saw that this "star" was in 6 episodes of one show and 7 episodes of another show. Not exactly a "star"

Other than that, I really don't care about it. I don't understand the tenants position. I don't understand him putting his dog down. I don't understand him killing himself.

 

Originally Posted by kellykip

Do you feel that the other building tenants' ignorance of pit bull mixes and consequential management pressure share some piece of the responsibility for what happened?

yes.

Mankind is scary stupid

Umm give the dog away or move. Pretty sure killing the dog and then killing yourself is the absolute worst solution to any problem ever.

And clearly this guy had serious problems to begin with.

Umm give the dog away or move. Pretty sure killing the dog and then killing yourself is the absolute worst solution to any problem ever.

And clearly this guy had serious problems to begin with.

 

Originally Posted by clemsonrich

And clearly this guy had serious problems to begin with.

He wears a long sleeve shirt in the pool, that gave it away for me.

 

Originally Posted by JRoth15

you can say that again!

Umm give the dog away or move. Pretty sure killing the dog and then killing yourself is the absolute worst solution to any problem ever.

And clearly this guy had serious problems to begin with.

Umm give the dog away or move. Pretty sure killing the dog and then killing yourself is the absolute worst solution to any problem ever.

And clearly this guy had serious problems to begin with.

 

Originally Posted by kellykip

In additon, for reasons listed in the OP (among others), moving may not have been so easy considering his circumstances.

So the next course of action is killing the dog then himself? I wish certain OTers were as easily persuaded as this guy, I would harrass them all the time!

 

Originally Posted by kellykip

What effect does constant harrassment have on your ability to make a rational decision that looks easy to the rest of us?

In additon, for reasons listed in the OP (among others), moving may not have been so easy considering his circumstances.

Exactly, suicide is def the better option in this case.....

.....


I don't care how much money you have etc, suicide in this case is the fucking last option you should do. Fuck this guy for getting attention about a selfish act, people commit suicide everyday for a lot worse things. What about the guy who lost his job, came home to his wife fucking another dude, and lost his son in the war? Where is the article for that guy?

No comment on this thread. KK you're pm box is full. To answer your PM - You aren't crazy and I agree.

 

Originally Posted by quietwinner

seriously, why couldn't he just tell everyone to fuck off. he was allowed to have the dog in there, i seriously woulda told everyone to get off my ass and fuck off. can't believe he resulted to that instead of this.

non new yorkers will just never understand the way appt buildings work up there. lol at finding another place in manhattan or telling your apt manager and all tennants to fuck off. not an option.

dude should of had a cat....

While many of you have astutely set forth some of the many alternatives he had. They were clearly not alternatives he gave much weight to, given the fact that he chose to end his own life. He obviously had a mental illness that caused this result. It's not like he sat down and wrote out the pros and cons of each alternative. He didn't make a bad decision after thinking it through or even on a whim. He killed himself for reasons far bigger than his neighbors being mad about his dog.