Nick Santino shocked friends and family after he committed suicide on Jan. 24. It was revealed that he felt he couldn’t live after euthanizing his pit-bull Rocco. According to Nick, the management of his Upper West Side condo building banned pit-bulls and started to harass him about his dog, which drove him to put his pet down and take his own life on the same day. Now the condo board in question is scrambling to distance his suicide from their actions!

Marilyn Fireman, who is on the board, says the condo’s policies cannot be thought to have been a direct influence on 47-year-old Nick’s suicide, the New York Post reports.

“You just assumed that [his suicide] was a result of a board’s decision,” she says.

Do YOU think the condo board should be held responsible for Nick’s death, HollywoodLifers?

– William Earl

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This is a terrible story. Soap star Nick Santino‘s Upper West Side condo building management reportedly put a ban on pit bulls and began to harass the actor about his pit bull-mix, Rocco, so much that he felt the need to put the healthy dog to sleep. Feeling guilty about his decision, the 47-year-old actor took his own life the same day, reports the New York Post.

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

Rocco was a rescue, who Nick — an actor on All My Children and Guiding Light — credited for actually “rescuing” him.

Unfortunately, the building management and tenants started complaining about Rocco, saying he barked and much more. The tormenting got so bad, Nick irrationally decided to take the dog’s life. However, it made him feel horrible.

“He was distraught and remorseful about putting down his best friend,” Kevan Cleary said.