Cuomo denies claims he planned to leave dog behind: ‘Some people just can’t get the facts straight’

‘He is part of our family and that’s the way it will always be,’ tweets outgoing governor after reports claimed he was leaving Captain behind

Outgoing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has denied claims that he intended to leave his dog Captain as he departed the executive mansion.

A report from The Times Union in Albany cited two unnamed New York State Police sources who claimed that Mr Cuomo – who resigned from his third term in office following allegations of sexual misconduct from members of his staff – asked whether any staff members “would be interested in caring for the dog”, a shepherd, Malamute and Siberian husky mix named Captain who made his debut in 2018 when he was 14 weeks old.

Late on Monday, after his office had already denied the claim, Mr Cuomo tweeted a picture of himself and his family with Captain, writing: “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.”

Earlier his senior adviser Richard Azzopardi clarified to the newspaper that the arrangement would only be temporary; the governor has been living at his sister’s house in Westchester County as he began moving from the residence over the weekend and is planning to take a vacation once he leaves office, officially at midnight on Monday.

“Captain is part of the Governor’s family and for [a] nameless ill-informed source to imply they’ve been trying to give him away is untrue,” he said in a statement to the newspaper and shared with The Independent. “Someone offered to watch him for a few days while the transition was ongoing but for that to be weaponised and morph from a game of telephone into the press is simply absurd.”

Libby Post, executive director of New York State Animal Protection Federation, said in a statement that the organisation is “ready to help place Captain at our larger New York state animal shelters” with “excellent behavioral experts who can help Captain resolve his ‘nipping’ issues and adopt him into a loving, forever home”.

In a post on Twitter sharing the statement, Mr Azzopardi said “this is getting ridiculous”.

He added: “The Governor stayed downstate to monitor [Tropical Storm Henri] (ie going his job.) He will be vacating the mansion tonight, as we said. Captain is a member of the family and he’s going to stay that way. The palace intrigue has gone amok.”

The governor frequently mentioned Captain during his pandemic briefings and is the star of his Instagram profile photo and across his other social media.

According to The Times Union, Captain has “nipped a few people” since his adoption, and a staffer took him home for a few days but was overwhelmed.