New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has groundhog blood on his hands after he dropped Staten Island Chuck during the annual Groundhog Day celebration. The groundhog died a week after the fall, succumbing to internal injuries related to the fall.
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The fall itself happened innocently enough. The fall occurred, according to CBS New York, when the Staten Island Zoo’s handler handed the groundhog over to the mayor. While in the mayor’s care, the groundhog managed to wiggle its way free and fall to the ground. One of the zoo employees immediately picked the animal back up. A week later the cover up began.
“The Staten Island Zoo went to great lengths to cover the death up from the public,” the New York Daily Post reported. It tried to explain that the groundhog that died was an impostor, not Chuck but Charlotte, the Post also claimed. The zoo confirmed to the Post that Charlotte the groundhog was a stand in for Chuck, because they feared that Chuck would bite the mayor.
Zoo officials tried to keep the death away from the public and members of their own staff, saying the death was from natural causes. This continues the de Blasio assault on animals as the mayor tries to kill off the horse-drawn carriages industry around Central Park.