Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has denied rumors that he abandoned his dog Captain and said some people ‘can’t just get the facts straight.’
The rumors started after Cuomo left Captain, a Northern Inuit dog, in the state executive mansion while he stayed at his sister’s Westchester home.
The Albany Times Union reported he had been asking staff at the mansion if anyone would like to keep Captain, a shepherd, Siberian and malamute mix.
But Cuomo turned to Twitter to deny the claims at 10:10pm Monday night – less than two hours before his term as governor ended.
‘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,’ he wrote on the social media platform.
Cuomo stepped down on Monday, in the aftermath of a report by the state attorney general that found he sexually harassed 11 women.
While some Tweeter users were supportive to Cuomo, one user remained skeptical and noted that the photo he shared was in fact from June 2020.
Cuomo denied claims that he had abandoned his dog Captain on a tweet
Outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reportedly abandoned his dog, Captain, as the final belongings were moved out of the governor’s mansion Monday
Responses to his tweet from support and gratitude for Cuomo’s service as Governor, to disgust and references to sexual harassment allegations against him
New York State’s new governor Kathy Hochul is pictured being sworn in shortly after midnight Tuesday
‘If you change your mind there’s a spot for him with 5 acres of dog heaven in Voorheesville! He’d have two sisters: Lady Anna BiggieSmallz Barkingham, and Dilly Pickles,’ shared a Tweeter user who was apparently offering to adopt the dog.
Other replies were less cordial and more accusing, even referencing the allegations against the former governor.
‘Captain was trying to get away from you anyway. Inappropriate petting,’ read a tweet reply in an apparent reference to the allegations against Cuomo, which he denies.
Cuomo adopted the dog as a puppy in 2018, with Captain repeatedly nipping people during his time at the mansion.
One mansion staff member reportedly took Cuomo up on an offer to care for Captain, and brought the pet home with them, but the he proved too much to handle, two state police sources told the Times Union.
Richard Azzopardi, senior advisor for Cuomo denied the reports, saying that Captain was always meant to stay with the staff member temporarily.
Captain was seen being walked by a staffer at the executive mansion Sunday. A state police source said the dog is unruly and that a staff member who offered to take ownership of him had to return him. The dog remains there, the source said
Captain is been known to have bitten people at the mansion. Cuomo’s chief aide Richard Azzopardi denies the reports that his former boss wants to give him away
‘Captain is part of the governor’s family and for nameless ill-informed sources to imply they’ve been trying to give him away is untrue,’ he told DailyMail.com in an emailed statement.
‘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 press is simply absurd. This is palace intrigue gone amok.’
That ran counter to reports from one of the state police sources.
‘He tried giving the dog to the (a mansion employee). … Apparently (the employee) took the dog home and it didn’t work — the dog walks him, he don’t walk the dog,’ the source told the Times Union on Saturday.
The source also said captain had nipped at a number of state police officers and mansion staffers, and that when it happened, ‘the governor would just laugh,’ and that the dog remains at the mansion.
Meanwhile Cuomo gave an emotional farewell speech at around noon, Monday. He will be replaced at 12.01am on Tuesday morning by Kathy Hochul, his Lt. Governor
Meanwhile movers with New York State Archives Records Center and The New York State Department of Education logged and removed artifacts from the mansion Monday morning.
They were likely the final belongings to be taken out of the storied residence.
Later, at around noon Monday, Cuomo, 63, choked back tears as he gave his final address as governor and slammed the sexual harassment report authored by state attorney general Letitia James.
He claimed he was the victim of a political attack, saying: ‘Allegations must still be scrutinized and verified whether made by a woman or man that is our basic justice system
‘I understand there are moments of intense political pressure and media frenzy that causes a rush to judgement that is not right, fair or sustainable.
‘Facts still matter. A firecracker can start a stampede but at some point everyone looks around and says “why are we running?”
‘The Attorney General’s report was designed to be a political firecracker on an explosive topic.
‘And it worked. There was a political and media stampede. The truth will out in time,’ he said.
The home is said to be worth close to $3 million dollars and is located in Purchase, New York
His sister’s house, in the town of Purchase, is owned by Maria Cole and her fashion designer husband, Kenneth Cole
Cole’s house is only a short distance from the home Cuomo had once lived at with his ex-longtime girlfriend Sandra Lee. The pair broke up in 2019 and it was at that point Cuomo moved into the Governor’s Mansion, a 165-year-old residence.
A U-Haul arrived at the property first thing Friday morning from the back of the house. The driver then pulled the truck around the side of the house so that it was barely visible from the street.
Cuomo was nowhere in sight as two more pickup trucks pulled up and at least six workers were seen unloading dollies and carts from the trucks before heading inside.
The outgoing governor was the last of his family to move out of the mansion. His daughters Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo (left), 23, and Cara Kennedy-Cuomo (right), 26, were spotted loading boxes of things and leaving the mansion in a black SUV earlier in the month
The trucks left Albany at around 11:30am, arriving in Purchase at 2:15pm.
Although it is not yet clear where Cuomo will be living now that he has moved out of the mansion, it is clear that his sister will be storing at least some of his things, for now.
Those delivering the boxes to Cole’s home told the New York Post they had no idea who they were working for with one saying they were simply told to ‘drive to the Tappan Zee’ bridge before being given an address shortly before arriving.
The Cole’s home, said to be worth close to $3 million, is equipped with all manner of amenities including a pool and a backyard with a barn and guest house.
The governor appears to be the last of the Cuomos to pack up and move out. Earlier this month two of Cuomo’s three daughters – Michaela, 23, and Cara, 26 – were spotted moving their things out of the Executive Mansion.