Andrew Cuomo Denies Abandoning His Dog
The Claim
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo abandoned his dog at the governor's mansion after resigning from office.
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Emerging story
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned this week over sexual harassment allegations. Upon his move from the governor’s mansion in Albany, rumors began to circulate that he’d left his dog Captain behind. The Times Union first broke the story, claiming that two State Police sources said that the governor had asked mansion staff if they’d be willing to take the dog. One staffer allegedly took the dog home, but after a few days decided he was “too much,” and returned Captain to the mansion. Cuomo has been staying with his sister in Westchester County, north of New York City.
The rumor went viral across social media, and prominent New York news sources picked up the story.
Misbar’s Analysis
Cuomo took to Twitter on Monday to deny the rumors of leaving the dog behind. “Some people just can't get the facts straight,” he wrote. “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.”
Senior Advisor and spokesperson Rich Azzopardi also dismissed the allegation. He told the Times Union that Cuomo had only been looking for someone to take care of the dog while he went on a short vacation. adding “Captain is part of the governor’s family," he added. "And for your nameless ill-informed source to imply they’ve been trying to give him away is untrue. Someone offered to watch him for a few days while the transition was ongoing but for that to be weaponized and morph from a game of telephone into the pages of your paper is absurd.”
The Times Union reported that Captain, a mix of shepherd, Siberian, and malamute, had “nipped” at a few people over the past three years, and was “high strung.”
Cuomo’s resignation follows several scandals, including eleven accusations of sexual harassment, and allegedly underreporting nursing home deaths. His decline has been swift and dramatic, as just last year he was being commended for his steady leadership throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
