There are certain lines a politician must never cross. Not taking care of your dog is near the top of that list, and soon-to-be-former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is learning that the hard way in his final 24 hours in office.

Cuomo, who resigned from office rather than face a likely impeachment over sexual harassment allegations, is getting pulverized across social media for a report in the Albany Times Union that says he’s been trying to give away his dog, Captain. The paper cited two sources with the NY State Police, who said the governor has asked staffers at the governor’s mansion if anyone would be interested in caring for the dog, a high-energy Siberian/Malamute mix who Cuomo adopted in 2018. One member of the staff tried to take Captain home, but the dog was reportedly too much of a handful.

Back then, the governor made a big deal of the new addition to the family. After a big press conference, Captain was dubbed the “first puppy of New York.” It seemed the governor was embracing that age-old tenet of public life: “If you want a friend in politics, get a dog.”

So much for puppy love.

Cuomo’s spokesman Richard Azzopardi blasted the story and the unnamed source while also denying the governor was trying to dump the dog off on someone else. He says the governor was only looking for someone to care for the canine for a short time while Cuomo went on vacation. He’s due to become a private citizen again at midnight Monday when his resignation becomes official.

More from the Times Union:

"Captain is part of the governor's family and for your nameless ill-informed source to imply they've been trying to give him away is untrue," Azzopardi said in a statement Saturday. "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..."

It’s a fairly safe bet NY photographers will be scoping out Cuomo the first few weeks of his return to “regular life” to see if Captain remains with him.