I agree that there is a risk associated with vaccines, but it's still a fact that more people (and animals) have died from preventable diseases which could have been avoided by getting vaccines. There are still far fewer people who have had bad reactions or died as a result of getting vaccines. We have to look at the overall picture, if the benefits outweigh the possible risks. If a person or animal has an allergic reaction to a vaccine then chances are they will probably not be helped if they actually came down with the actual disease that the vaccine is supposed to prevent. I think I'd rather take my chances with the vaccines than to not get them. In many poor countries people are dying everyday from preventable diseases because they don't have access to the most basic vaccines. I'm not sure who said that there are not any proven vaccines for ferrets, but that is not true. Some states, such as California, don't want to acknowledge that vaccines have been tested and proven effective for ferrets simply because they don't want it to become legalized to have ferrets in those states. So of course they are going to deny the evidence. That's nothing new; they've been claiming the same thing for years despite all the studies and physical proof. Of course there is always going to be more of a risk with some vaccines than others and in those cases you have to ask yourself whether it's really neccesary or not. If an animal is not going to be in contact with other animals and does not spend time outside where there is more exposure to disease, then you might feel it's unneccesary. For example: My sister and her husband have a flying squirrel and he has never needed any vaccines because he is not exposed to other animals. The vet said there has never been a reported case of a flying squirrel having rabies, because of several factors. So in this case a rabies shot is not needed. But with most animals, especially ones that come in contact with other animals, then yes I think it's better to get the vaccines. It's one thing to mention the possible risks of vaccines, but to dismiss them entirely is sending out the wrong message to people because vaccines really do save a lot of lives. [Posted in FML issue 4112]