Wigan dad set to walk through Milton Keynes on 232 mile walk to deliver petition to Downing Street

    Image: Richard Ackers, Liverpool Echo

    Wigan dad Richard Ackers began the 'Justice for Reggie' campaign a year ago and is now walking 232 miles to hand deliver a petition.

    Richard Ackers has started his six-day journey from his home in Wigan to Number 10 Downing Street and will be passing through Milton Keynes tomorrow (05/12) and Monday (06/12).

    Last year, Richard bought his partner Alicia Sherman 12-week-old Reggie as a Christmas present. Unfortunately, just two days after bringing him home, Reggie sadly died.

    The Liverpool Echo explained "It is feared that little Reggie may have come from an illegal farm as the puppy became sick within 12 hours of arriving with the new family and died of parvovirus - a highly infectious disease that his owners claim would have been caught during transportation."

    Alicia, originally from Wigan, previously told the Liverpool Echo: "The night we got him it started with diarrhoea, the next day he was vomiting and just not himself.

    "We rang the vets who said that’s not normal for a young Labrador puppy and when we took him for tests, they did a parvovirus test that came back positive. I’m a nurse and I’ve seen bad things but never someone looking that bad."

    Richard and Alicia have since created the 'Justice for Reggie' campaign and are fighting for #Reggieslaw - to regulate online animal sales.

    The petition now has over 100,000 signatures, meaning parliament will consider it for debate.

    Richard is now on his 232 mile journey to hand over a petition to Downing Street in person from Wigan. 

    Tomorrow (05/12), Richard is set to arrive at Big Joes at 6pm, then he will be heading to Stadium MK, arriving at 9pm.

    On Monday, Richard will then head to the Flying Fox for 11:30am before making his way to St Albans.

    Money raisedhis hike to Downing Street will go towards three animal charities including Animal protection services, Hope Rescue and Almost home rescue.

    You can find out more about the campaign, or keep up with Richard's journey here.

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