Soap Actor Commits Suicide After Having to Put Down His Own Dog

A struggling soap-opera actor has reportedly taken his own life following regret after euthanizing his dog due to pressure from his Upper West Side condo management.

The New York Post reports that friends of 47-year-old Nick Santino say that the actor wrote in his 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.”

US Weekly reports that Santino had appeared on seven episodes of All My Children and six episodes of Guiding Light, and had been feeling "harassed" by his building management company, according to his neighbor Lia Pettigrew. US reports on the sad turn of events:

"He was allegedly threatened with a $250 fine for having a barking dog, but according to neighbor Kevan Cleary, 'the dog was not a barker, but somebody complained that the dog would bark.'

Santino phoned a former girlfriend at 2 a.m. Wednesday. Police found Santino's body in his bedroom later that afternoon. The actor had overdosed on pills."

Rocco was Euthanized on Santino's birthday. The Post reports that Santino was born in Brooklyn and raised in an orphanage and foster homes. The actor adopted Rocco from a shelter several years ago, and often mentioned his pet on Facebook, writing “I did not rescue Rocco, Rocco rescued me."

The Post reports that Rocco has been cremated, and friends said Santino’s remains will be too, and they will be reunited.

NY Post:

A member of the condo board that soap actor Nick Santino said pressured him to euthanize his pit bull — a “betrayal” that drove him to suicide — refused to accept any responsibility for the double tragedy yesterday.

“I’m sorry the man is dead,” board member Marilyn Fireman barked to The Post, “But it has nothing to do with the pet policy.”

“You just assumed that [his suicide] was a result of a board’s decision,” Fireman said, even though Santino routinely griped about the building’s anti-dog policies.

Heartbroken relatives of the actor — who had stints on “All My Children” and “Guiding Light” — have retrieved the ashes of Rocco and plan to place them beside Santino’s body when he is laid to rest.