Senior Project Online Source

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	"Animal Cruelty: Animal Abuse Facts and Statistics"
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Roy D'Silva
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Buzzle.com
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	Buzzle.com
Date Page was Last Revised	8 December 2011
Date You Read It	7 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.buzzle.com/articles/animal-cruelty-animal-abuse-facts-statistics.html

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

The article states that, "one major type of animal abuse is torture"(D'Silva).

In many countries, including, "Sweden, Costa Rica, Austria, Finland, India, and Singapore"(D'Silva), animals are no longer allowed to be used in circuses.

PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) says that the animals used in circuses are being tortured, such as with, "tight collars, whips, and beatings"(D'Silva).

Even some of the animals aren't properly cared for, they're, "exposed to various diseases"(D'Silva).

It is the, "responsibility of the government and NGO'S to fight for the welfare of these creatures"(D'Silva) states the article.

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

This article starts off with a brief overview of what animal cruelty actually is and what it is defined as. Animals are being tortured by harmful abusers. The article discusses how animals that are in circuses are prone to many diseases and that they are not properly taken care of. Even they are abused and uncared for. Many countries across the U.S has banned animals from being in the circus. This article explains how there is animal cruelty shown in the movie, "Cannibal Holocaust". The author closes with pathos, forcing the reader to feel melancholic for abused animals.
Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

The author is Roy D'Silva and wrote for the website buzzle.com, which is an intelligent site for life on the web. This site's purpose is to inform others about certain topics and issues that are occuring in the world. The site may be funded by Google, since it seems like it may be a branch of google.com.
Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 

The article is simply informative. The author has nothing more to gain other than informing the community about animal abuse and who needs to put a stop to it.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

There is no bias in the authors writing, besides the fact that they are against animal abusers and cruelty, similar to all the other sites I've looked at.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?


The author does cite a few references, such as PETA, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. This adds to the authors credibilty because it makes Roy D'Silva look as if she knows what she is talking about, and that she has studied into other sources before writing the article.
Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

I plan to use this source with help in writing my essay. It will help me include some important facts about animal cruelty. Also, this article taught me that there are circus animals that are being tortured, which will give me another example of animal abuse and why it is done.

Senior Project Online Source

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	"Animal Cruelty"
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Learning to Give
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	Learning to Give
Date Page was Last Revised
Date You Read It	7 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper359.html

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

The article states that the definition of animal cruelty is, "acts of violence or neglect perpetrated against animals"(ASPCA).

The article gives the origin of animal cruelty when stating that animal cruelty, "has been traced back as far as the 12th century" and began with "fighting dogs for sport"(ASPCA).

This article goes back to animal cruelty history and states that, "for centuries fights occurred across Europe until the baiting of larger animals was prohibited in 1835"(ASPCA).

Another start of animal cruelty was cockfighting and even, "the founding fathers being fond of the blood sport"(ASPCA). Cockfighting is a fight between two game roosters.

The ASPCA was founded in, "1866" by "Henry Bergh"(ASPCA) who wanted a better city in New York for animals.

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals gives information about the history of animal cruelty. Many forms of animal cruelty began in the 12th century with dog fighting, cock fighting, and later on in the 19th century there was abuse to farm animals in factory farms. Many of these animals were forced to deal with physical and psychological abuse for years. New types of animal abuse emerged when the internet became available. There were videos being posted of acts of animal cruelty which influenced others. Finally, in 1999 the Crush Act was enforced.

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?
The site, Learning to Give, is an education website that teaches and gives civic engagement. The purpose of the site is to give information to the community about issues that are occuring in our society. The article itself was written by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is an organization that deals with animal cruelty hands on. They go out and arrest animal abusers, therefore their information is credible.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

The author simply wrote the article to be informative. The ASPCA wants to prevent animal cruelty as much as they can.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?
There is no bias in the article, except for the fact that the article is against animal abusers themselves. The site wants to inform people that animal cruelty is around us, so that we can find the abusers and give them a consequence.
References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author cites references and has a bibliography at the end of the article. This bibliography adds to the authors credibility because it allows us to look at the sites the author got his or her information from and therefore we can determine if they too are credible.
Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

I plan to use this source as help for my introduction page, as it will prepare me to give information on the topic before discussing the solution to the problem. I also plan to use this article in writing the history on the topic and how it began. The article gives a good amount of information on the origin of animal cruelty and the laws that have changed since the 12 century.

Senior Project Online Source

"Specific Page Title or Article Title”	"Animal Cruelty Must Stop"
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Jenny Leigh
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Teen Ink
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	Teen Ink
Date Page was Last Revised
Date You Read It	3 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://teenink.com/hot_topics/environment/article/90968/Animal-Cruelty-Must-Stop/

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

There are many reasons why people abuse animals but many, "find some sort of fulfillment or power in torturing a victim they know can't fight back"(Leigh).

There are many ways in improving animal cruelty, specifically, "the simplest action is for people to take care of their own pets and learn the facts so they can educate others on proper animal care"(Leigh).

There are many states that have no consequence for commiting this crime which include, "Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota"(Leigh).

To help this problem all states should work in, "increasing public awareness of these crimes"(Leigh).

Animal abusers may have, "psychological issues and may commit more acts of violence- possiblty against humans"(Leigh).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

In the world we are living in today, there are many forms of animal abuse taking place. Our community must do something about this issue to try and prevent this from continuing and possibly even prevent it from happening. There are two types of animal abuse, acticve and passive. Active cruelty is actually hurting an animal through an act of violence. Passive cruelty is simply not caring for your animal. This article informed me that there are many states in the U.S. that have no laws against animal cruelty, which was shocking. People are getting away with murder. Animal abusers are said to be more likely to become violent towards humans and may even have some sort of psychological problem. Our community needs to come together in protecting our pets and informing others of what they can do to help.


Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site? 

The author is Jenny Leigh and her article was also published in Teen Ink's monthly print magazine. It seems to be a credible author for that reason and also because she has been a member of this specific site for over 35 months. Also, the website is credible because it has been up and running since 1989 to give teens the opportunity to inform and to learn about world issues.   

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

The author does have something to gain from writing this article because since the article had been printed in a magazine, she most likely received a profit. Although, I do believe Jenny wrote this article to inform others of what animal cruelty is and how we can try to prevent it.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?
The author's bias would be to protect animals, instead of the people being accused of the crimes against animal cruelty. The author wants to put a stop to animal cruelty and is against the states that have no laws against this crime.
References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author does cite references, such as a study that was taken in 1997 done by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Northeastern University. She also references certain cases that have taken place and quotes Margaret Mead as the last sentence of her article.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

I plan to use this source in helping me write my introduction and discussing the two different types of animal cruelty. Also, the article discusses the causes of why people commit these crimes and how we can improve our society to prevent animal cruelty. This will also help me with my page of opposing views because it states that people commit animal cruelty to feel a sense of power.

Senior Project Online Source

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	"Animal Cruelty crackdown in Los Angeles has results"
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Jack Leonard
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Los Angeles Times
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	Los Angeles Times
Date Page was Last Revised	8 February 2009
Date You Read It	2 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cruelty8-2009feb08,0,7249180.story

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

While finding an opposing viewpoint on my topic of animal cruelty, this article states that one specific man, "takes his anger out on the couple's small puppy"(Leonard). This helps demonstrate why people abuse their animals.

The abuse today has become so severe that authorities found the puppy, "shivering in a sink with cold water running over her" and also her,"jaw had been broken, her eye sockets had been fractuered and several of her ribs had been cracked"(Leonard).

Today, "the task force investigates nearly 300 reports of animal abuse and neglect each year"(Leonard).This will be a brief statement as part of my introduction page.

In society today, Los Angeles, "has adopted one of the more progressive approaches in the nation dealing with crimes against animals"(Leonard).

In Los Angeles there have been double the amount of cases of animal cruelty than last year, "the district attorney's office filed animal cruelty charges in 116 cases"(Leonard).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

This article from LA Times states many different cases of animal cruelty and why these people hurt their animals; they simply take their anger out on their pets. Los Angeles has stepped up in taking this issue more seriously and making laws against animal cruelty. Each year there are many arrests for cockfighting and for deadly violence against animals. Many people don't believe that they can be arrested and even go to prison for animal abuse.

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

Los Angeles Times is one of the biggest news companies in our city. The purpose of the site is to inform people about animal abuse and to show cases of what has really happened. Also, the article informs our community about what is going on and why these individuals choose to commit animal cruelty. The site is funded most likely by the city or Los Angeles county.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

This article is simply informative. It lets us know what is going on in society and what the consequences are of this crime.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

The bias of the article is favoring the government who enforce the laws against animal cruelty because they want to put a stop to this ongoing issue.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?


The author references the LAPD in his article because they deal hands on with animal cruelty and arrest the people committing these horrible crimes.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?

I plan to use this source when writing my introduction page and my opposing view page as part of my essay. The article informed me on why people hurt animals and how they do so. It is also informative on facts that can be used in my introduction.