Santa’s reindeer have been cleared for takeoff by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Last week, AVMA announced that its current president, Dr. Rena Carlson, had completed a trip to the North Pole and found that the animals were “healthy, in great shape, and ready to fly on Christmas Eve,” according to a release. An official “North Pole Certificate of Animal Export” (PDF) certified that the reindeer are free of “brucellosis, tuberculosis, or chronic wasting disease.”

Carlson’s reindeer examination—accompanied by Ashli Selke, immediate past president of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians of America (NAVTA)—was recorded and is available on YouTube.

Though the video is all in good fun—the “North Pole” in the video is actually a farm in Utah—the annual checkup has provided some serious promotion for AVMA. The concept began in 2011 as a “fun way to elevate the importance of veterinary care for animals traveling across international and state borders,” Carlson said. “We wanted to help people understand the importance of veterinarians in making sure that diseases are not spreading across state lines to animals or people.”

Though the checkups happen every year—and the reindeer always pass muster—AVMA tries to change up some element of the messaging. In 2020, it promoted vets’ abilities to conduct remote care during COVID-19. This year, Carlson said, it wanted to spotlight the importance of veterinary technicians, a profession currently experiencing a shortage. Hence the presence of NAVTA (which AVMA provides management services for) and Selke’s role in the video.

“This year, we felt it was really important to include veterinary technicians, which play a really critical part in providing care and helping veterinarians,” Carlson said.

We wanted to help people understand the importance of veterinarians.

Dr. Rena Carlson, AVMA President

The campaign typically generates a healthy amount of earned media for AVMA during the holiday season, especially on local TV stations. In addition to drawing attention to AVMA’s work to the general public, the campaign also focuses on children who might be considering veterinarian careers (there’s a page answering kids’ questions about reindeer), as well as AVMA membership: Members can download a social media badge announcing that they are part of Santa’s Emergency Landing and Veterinary Expert System (ELVES).

In addition, Carlson noted that conducting the checkup has become one of her favorite perks of serving as AVMA president. “I was so looking forward to this,” she said. “I sat on the AVMA board of directors for six years, campaigned for president, and was fortunate to be elected, and it really is one of those things that presidents look forward to. It’s one of the most-viewed videos that AVMA does.”

But giving the president a fun experience, she added, only happens if the messaging around the checkup is meaningful. “We emphasize the animal-welfare and public-health side of things because veterinarians play such a key role in keeping our food supply safe,” she said. “It’s become a tradition for the president, and hopefully people will continue to see value in engaging with it, because we don’t want to disappoint future presidents.”

(Wavebreakmedia/iStock)