A Vigil for Victims of Canine Discrimination will be held this Saturday in Manhattan at Lincoln Center in the memory of Nick Santino, a New York soap opera actor who recently killed himself after being wracked with guilt for euthanizing his dog. Santino has appeared in shows such as “All My Children” and “Guiding Light.”
Santino killed himself on Jan. 26 after he’d had his pit bull, Rocco, put to sleep because of a strict ban his apartment building had recently announced on the breed.
The New York Post reported that before he overdosed on pills, Santino wrote, “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 ban did not apply to dogs such as Rocco who were in the building before it was enacted. The Post reported, however, that Santino was harassed and pressured into the decision to euthanize.
The vigil was organized to oppose breed specific bans and rules like the one at Santino’s condo.
Bobbi and the Strays adoption group said it has adoptions open for many pit bull and pit mixes. The organization asks that people help spread the word to family and friends because the bigger the turn-out for this cause equates to a bigger voice against the inhumanity and injustice that breed discrimination creates.
For more information on the vigil, visit http://bobbiandthestrays.org/EventDetail.aspx?id=173.
Photo courtesy of Facebook.com.
