Ted Cruz's poodle seemingly stayed in a 'FREEZING' house while his family went to Cancun

Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) mid-pandemic, mid-blackout Cancun vacation left out one important family member.

As millions of Texans remained without water or power Wednesday night, including Cruz, the junior senator was spotted boarding a plane headed out of the country with his family. Cruz returned just hours later after his plans were denounced across the political spectrum, and he pushed the whole thing off as an attempt to be a "good dad" to his young daughters. But Cruz was reportedly originally set to stay down south through Sunday — raising questions about the fate of Snowflake, the family's poodle who appeared to be left at home.

Before Cruz got back Thursday afternoon, New York Magazine's Michael Hardy stopped by his Houston home. The lights were all off despite a neighbor saying the power had returned the night before. But there was still a sign of life in the house: A small white dog, barking behind the glass front door, wearing a mysterious large tag around its neck.

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It's unclear exactly when Cruz's home regained power, but he took a 4:45 p.m. CT flight out of Houston on Wednesday, suggesting the family left before it came back on. And as texts his wife Heidi Cruz sent just hours earlier to a neighborhood group chat reveal, their house was "FREEZING" as they planned the last-minute getaway. They had a fireplace, Heidi noted, but dogs don't usually know how to work those.

A security guard at the house did tell Hardy he was taking care of Snowflake, which doesn't explain what the dog was doing before power was restored. Perhaps, as Cruz often suggests about "snowflakes," the poodle was expected to just get over it.