Outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has been without his dog Captain ever since moving out of the governor’s mansion last week, Albany’s Times Union reported.
Monday was Cuomo’s last day in office. On August 10, he announced his resignation with two weeks’ notice amid the fallout from accusations of sexual harassment from 11 women, whose accounts were corroborated in a 165-page report from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Cuomo has been staying with one of his sisters ever since leaving the mansion in Albany, but staff at the residence were asked “if anyone would like to keep his dog,” the Times Union reported.
Captain has “nipped a few people” at the mansion since being adopted in 2018. Two state-police sources who spoke with the Times Union said, “A mansion staffer recently took the dog home for a few days but decided he was too much.”
Cuomo’s spokesman Rich Azzopardi – who recently described his boss as being “railroaded” in the sexual-harassment scandal – told the Times Union the arrangement was “temporary” until Cuomo returned from a vacation he plans to take upon leaving office.
The two state-police sources talked to the paper on Saturday and said the Siberian-shepherd-malamute mix has continued roaming about the mansion.
In his last tweet from his official gubernatorial account on Monday night, Cuomo also poured cold water on the story and said Captain is still part of the family.
Some people just can't get the facts straight. Yes, I was downstate monitoring storm response for a few days, but Captain and I are a man and his dog. He is part of our family and that’s the way it will always be. pic.twitter.com/x2KMpBLKwL
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 24, 2021
After the Times Union story broke early Monday morning, the New York State Animal Protective Federation released a statement saying it was ready to find Captain a place in its network of shelters.
Statement from @NYSAPF on @timesunion story about @NYGovCuomo leaving his dog Captain at the mansion after moving out: pic.twitter.com/jvHwyJHLDL
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) August 23, 2021
On Tuesday, Kathy Hochul took over for Cuomo and become the first female governor in New York history. She plans on running for a full term in 2022. Cuomo’s top aide said on Monday that he would not seek office again despite having nearly $20 million in campaign funds left over.
Story cited here.
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