Andrew Cuomo Denies Leaving His Dog Captain Behind in the Governor's Mansion

Courtesy Governors Office From left: Michaela, Cara and Mariah Kennedy Cuomo with Andrew Cuomo at the New York governor’s mansion in Albany in 2020

As if resigning under a cloud of sexual harassment accusations wasn't enough, Andrew Cuomo was at the center of a much more minor scandal when it was reported this week that he had abandoned his dog, Captain, at the governor's mansion in Albany, New York.

Aides denied it and said Cuomo, 63, was merely looking for a temporary pet-sitter while he goes on vacation after he leaves office.

On Twitter, Cuomo said he was briefly diverted because of work.

"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," Cuomo wrote on Monday. "He is part of our family and that's the way it will always be."

Cuomo announced he was stepping down two weeks ago, in the wake of an independent investigation corroborating his accusers. (He denied acting intentionally inappropriately.)

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul became New York's first female governor at midnight Tuesday.

The commotion over Captain possibly being left behind overshadowed Cuomo's farewell address in some corners and led to headlines in the New York press such as "Coldhearted Cuomo Ditches His Dog at Governor's Mansion."

Cuomo's last day in office was Monday, and he's been staying with one of his sisters in Westchester County over the last few days. The Albany Times Union reported that Cuomo's staff was asking around for somebody to take Captain in.

Libby Post, executive director of the New York Federation for the Protection of Animals, says Cuomo's senior adviser Rich Azzopardi called her on Monday to assure her that Captain would be staying with Cuomo.

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Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images Andrew Cuomo

Post had expressed concern for Captain on an Albany radio show Monday morning and she posted on Twitter that "I read in disbelief that in this morning's Times Union that Captain, Governor Cuomo's dog, had been left at the Executive Mansion after Cuomo's belongings had been moved out."

Post tells PEOPLE that Azzopardi told her Captain would be reunited soon with the exiting governor.

"He said he wanted to assure me that Captain was part of the family and that he would be going with Gov. Cuomo to his home in Westchester," Post says. "He's saying, 'We did not leave Captain behind.' He was going to be leaving today with the governor. But the governor left the dog with one of the staffers a few days ago."

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In his farewell speech, Cuomo, a Democrat who was in the last year of his third term, blamed a "media frenzy" for his ouster. He called that New York state attorney general's report that found the governor had sexually harassed 11 women "a political firecracker."

Not so, said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who determined that Cuomo engaged in "unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and making inappropriate comments" with both current and former New York state employees. She added that the actions "created a hostile work environment for women."

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Andrew Cuomo

Post, the animal advocate, says Cuomo appears to care for Captain, a husky, shepherd and malamute mix.

"I've never had any reason to question his loyalty back and forth from dog to man and man to dog," she says. "There were always pictures of him walking the doing, being with the dog."

Cuomo got Captain from a rescue organization in 2018.

"We heard that he wanted to leave Captain with a staffer, but the person was like, 'No, I don't think so,' " Post says. "The dog is a little aggressive. He has a nipping problem."