Ted Cruz ‘left behind’ pet poodle, Snowflake, at ‘freezing’ Texas home during Cancun trip

Tens of thousands of Texans were without power or running water for a fourth day as senator Ted Cruz took off for Cancun on Wednesday evening, while reportedly leaving behind the family pet poodle, Snowflake.

A picture taken by a reporter for New York Magazine on Thursday showed the pet poodle looking out of a window of Mr Cruz’s home in Houston, Texas, while the senator, his wife, and daughters were away.

Mr Cruz said he was trying to be a good father by taking his two young daughters out of the state in a written statement released after the short vacation was widely criticised on Thursday.

A security guard said he had been tasked with looking after the poodle while the family were away from the home — which appeared to have electricity restored on Thursday afternoon, according to the reporter.

“Like millions of Texans, our family lost heat and power too,” the senator said in the written statement. “[And] with school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”

Mr Cruz, in an appearance on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Thursday, added that his house was “freezing” after the power went out on Tuesday night, and that he stayed at home for “two days” before travelling to Cancun.

“It was dark, we had no heat. Actually the fireplace behind me, we were all huddled around the fireplace ‘cause it was the only heat in the house,” said Mr Cruz, who also admitted to broadcaster ABC13 that with “hindsight” the vacation was a “mistake”.

After saying he always planned to return as part of a round-trip, the senator told Mr Hannity: “I had initially planned to stay through the weekend, but as I was heading down there, you know, I started to have second thoughts almost immediately because the crisis here in Texas, you need to be here on the ground.”

Temperatures reached as low as 0F (-18C) in Texas on Sunday, causing widespread power outages, burst water pipes, and wider disruption, as well as more than 20 deaths in weather-related incidents.

Democratic lawmakers have called on Mr Cruz to step down over his handling of the crisis, with some accusing the senator of failing to show leadership while thousands were still suffering.

He added on Thursday that: “My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas. We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe.”

Snowflake, which appeared to be poodle or similar breed, was adopted as a rescue puppy by the Texas senator in 2014, as he wrote in a Facebook post at the time.