User:Safrye8/Evaluate an Article

Animal vaccination

Which article are you evaluating?
Animal vaccination

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
Animal vaccination has always been of interest to me, specifically due to my involvement in the Veterinary medicine field. I have worked with Charlotte Street Animal Hospital for approximately five years and give vaccinations to animals regularly. Glancing over this article, it seems to have a relatively narrow view of animal vaccinations; specifically that of companion animals. In my semi-professional opinion, the article is lacking depth on vaccinations in household pets (dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, etc...). Due to the vast number of individuals who own companion pets, it appears that there should be more information on the types of vaccinations available, side effects, and other vital information for curious pet owners.

Evaluate the article
Lead section- The article starts with a generalized overview on the topic of animal vaccination. This being said, the topic has two possible directions. Personally, I would include a more evident distinction between domestic, feedstock, and wildlife animal vaccination. In the lead section there is slight mention on the history of animal vaccination and briefly touches on what will be generally discussed in the article.

Content- The content presented in the article seems to be slightly outdated. There are plenty of additional vaccinations available for domestic animals nowadays that are not mentioned. Additionally, there should be a section that touches on PureVax vaccinations for felines. Semi-recently in the companion animal veterinary field, injection site induced sarcomas have been given attention. The development of PureVax vaccinations is a wonderful new discovery that feline owners should be made aware of. One positive thing about this article is that there is a section dedicated to discussing specific issues and economical pitfalls of this field.

Tone and Balance- This article discusses the benefits of vaccination, which could be seen as slightly biased to someone who is “anti-vaccination”. Fortunately, the claims are backed by reliable sources and science that prove their validity. To make this article have a more neutral point of view, I would discuss having some discussion on why some animal owners do not want their animals to be vaccinated. Mentioning the requirement of rabies vaccinations by state law would be another interesting topic to debate on this page.

Sources and References- The very first source I clicked on [at the bottom of the article] talked about PureVax vaccinations. There was substantial information contained in this source that I was shocked did not make it into the Wikipedia article. After clicking on a couple other sources, I came to the conclusion that the sources below contain the pertinent information needed to improve this article. Someone just needs to take the time to synthesize the information and write up a summary. Additionally, most of the articles listed are research papers or are from accredited health science websites.

Organization and writing quality- As stated earlier, I believe that this article could be organized into two or three different sections to create a better flow. Domestic animal vaccination is much different than wildlife and/or large animal vaccinations. If I were writing this article, I would have three distinct sections on the different groups of animals. In doing so, the reader will have an easier time finding the information they need.

Images and Media- There are only three or four pictures in this article, and they could use some improvement. I found the first two pictures slightly hard to decipher. Without the caption at the bottom of each picture I would not know what was being represented in the picture. Approximately halfway down the article there is an image of a dog with rabies. While this seems to be a good idea to add to the article, a black and white, outdated picture may not have been the best choice. There also should be consideration as to what is considered “too graphic” for a Wikipedia page.

Talk page discussion- There is not too much on the talk page of this article. One of the main (and only) concerns that someone brought to light was accessibility. The commenter went on to explain that most veterinary knowledge is not widely available online. Most education is found in books for veterinary professionals, which can be hard to obtain access to. I agree slightly, but also believe that in this day and age the internet can find just about anything. Especially after reading the utilized sources, I am confident that more information can be found for the Wikipedia article.

Overall impressions- Overall, this article has the potential to be very educational. The sources cited in this article contain a plethora of peer-reviewed information on the topic of animal vaccination. By re-organizing the flow - as I discussed above - and adding more bulk to the sub-categories, this article could be vastly improved.