Ted Cruz Slammed For Abandoning His Poodle At Texas Home In Freezing Temperatures Amid Cancún Controversy
The poor, freezing puppy.
mark reinstein / Shutterstock In a week where Texas has faced numerous hardships and many have lost power in their homes, Ted Cruz booked a ticket to go to Cancún.
Texas is currently facing harsh amounts of snow and freezing temperatures, and the state’s senator, Ted Cruz, saw this as an opportunity to take a quick vacation.
Cruz was photographed at the Cancún airport on Wednesday, Feb. 17, where he would later book his ticket back to Texas for the next day on Thursday. This sparked an outcry from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Upon its boom on social media, a photo of their pet poodle, Snowflake, went viral as many people wondered if the dog was abandoned at their Texas home.
In the past, Cruz has been known to defend himself (and others) no matter what in the face of controversy.
However, in an interview with a Houston affiliate, KTRK, Cruz was apologetic and faced the consequences for his actions head-on.
“Look, it was obviously a mistake and in hindsight, I wouldn't have done it," he said.
Cruz said that the idea for the trip originated with his daughters, who asked to go on a trip with friends, who were in a situation where they could travel given that their school was canceled for the week.
“I was trying to be a dad, and all of us have made decisions — when you've got two girls who have been cold for two days and haven't had heater power, and they're saying 'Hey, look we don't have school why don't we go, let's get out of here.' I think there are a lot of parents that would be like, 'Look if I can do this, great.' That's what I wanted to do," he told the TV station.
"[But] really from the moment I sat on the plane, I began really second-guessing that decision, and saying 'Look, I know why we're doing this, but I've also got responsibilities, and it had been my intention to be able to work remotely, to be on the phone, to be on the internet, to be on Zoom, to be engaged, but I needed to be here and that's why I came back,” Cruz added.
It was confirmed by neighbors that Cruz, along with many in his neighborhood, lost power for a couple of days.
This, along with the plea of his daughters, was the fuel that led to the trip to Cancún.
Snowflake, Cruz’s family dog, was seen pictured in the home of Cruz’s house on Thursday afternoon.
Many speculated if the poor pup was left alone and if it was living in poor conditions in the house.
A reporter in the local area, Micheal Hardy, spoke to a man who was identified as a security guard for the Cruz residence. He was told by the security guard that he was the one taking care of the dog while the Cruz family was gone. If that is to be true, isn’t the house in “freezing” temperatures?
Messages sent to The New York Times by an unidentified source, who remained unidentified due to the private nature of the texts, revealed that Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, sent messages referring to their house as “FREEZING."
These are no conditions to leave a dog in, even if there is a security guard who occasionally checks in on him/her.
According to a Facebook post from 2014 by Ted Cruz, the puppy was a rescue.
One can only hope that the dog was well taken care of and saw little to no neglect in his time of isolation.
Many still can’t believe the actions of Cruz.
Some saw the opportunity to make fun of the situation while still throwing blame on Cruz.
Regardless of the backlash for his actions, Cruz said he is working hard to help his state of Texas recover from the harsh weather conditions that the state has faced recently.
"My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas," he said. "We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm."
As poor as his decisions were, for both the state of Texas and for the well-being of the puppy Snowflake, one can only hope that his actions will speak louder than they have as of late.
Tomás Diniz Santos is a writer living in Orlando, Florida. He covers news, entertainment, and pop-culture topics.