FORT MYERS, Fla -- People love pets, and when another animal gets hurt, we often see people donate money to help those animals in need. But when it comes to helping homicide investigations officials tell us the donations can be a little stale. Fox 4 spoke with crime stoppers to get their take on why they think people don’t donate money for these investigations.
Steph'an Strawder, Joshua Kent, Sean Achilles, and Christa Wilson are victims of homicides in the last 20 years, that have not been solved. Each of them has a $3,000 reward for anyone with knowledge of their murders
"It’s really sad when we don’t see the community rally behind all of these cases," said Trish Routte, with Crime Stoppers. "To sit down and meet these families who have lost a son or daughter these cases mean everything to them."
Routte says $3,000 is the highest amount they can offer, and the money comes from a grant they have. she explains anyone can donate to a particular case - but often times they don’t.
"Sadly when it comes to humane lives, we normally don’t see that kind of response unless it comes from the family," Routte said. But when it comes to animals Routte says it’s different. The Gulf Coast Humane Society is partnering with Crime Stoppers to help stop dog fighting, with a five thousand reward for tips that lead to an arrest.
When there’s an animal that’s had a rough time like one-year-old pup Beatrice, who was the victim being used as a bait dog, which are the dogs that are used to entice other dogs how to fight because of their non-aggressive nature. So in turn, more often than not, people will donate to the cause.
"I think being that voice for the voiceless, is really what spurs people to make those donations," said Jenn Galloway, with the Gulf Coast Humane Society.
Crime Stoppers says it really comes down to connection when it comes to humane lives.
If there’s not a personal attachment, we don’t always see that followed through with added reward money’s," said Routte.
