Community Corner

Justice for Phantom Takes Another Step

Over 2,500 people have signed a petition asking that the case investigating the death of golden lab Phantom be reopened.

He was a pet. A pet that died alone, locked in a foreclosed apartment. No one has answered for the slow death of Phantom the golden lab and Lyn Gorka and 2,520 people want that to change.

"They are demanding I do something with this; that this case gets reopened," said Gorka who is a local real estate agent and animal rights advocate and started an online petition for Phantom. "They are still up in arms. People are writing to me all the time."

It comes down to justice for the 2 year-old Phantom that died after being abandoned in a foreclosed apartment. Insufficient evidence was found to charge the owner.

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Hudson police have said that there was a miscommunication and not enough evidence to prosecute, said Gorka, but that does not change the outcome for Phantom. He was a beautiful dog and a new home easily could have been found for him.

"I don't want this to happen again," said Gorka. "This is a living thing ... they don't ask much. They depend upon us 100 percent."

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Last week, she handed her petition, with 2,520 signatures, to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office in the Marlborough District Court and Hudson Police. The petition demands that the evidence be reviewed and a case opened.

This kind of abandonment of animals in foreclosed apartments and homes is on the rise, said Gorka, and an example needs to be made in this case.

"It's justice for Phantom and for every animal," said Gorka.


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