Office of the State Vet: more than reindeer travel approvals

• For Immediate Release: December 22, 2021
• Contact: Laura Achee, 907-465-5009

Anchorage, AK — In support of Christmas celebrations around the world, Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Gerlach recently issued a series of health certificates allowing Santa’s reindeer to travel from Alaska across state lines for toy delivery. While this annual effort attracts attention, it’s just a regular day for the Office of the Alaska State Veterinarian. 

"Dr. Gerlach and Dr. Sarah Coburn work every day to help protect Alaskans by ensuring our pets and livestock are also healthy," said Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune. "Only allowing healthy animals to enter or leave our state is one of the things DEC does to help prevent the spread of diseases among animals or between animals and people."

Office of the State Veterinarian is part of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Environmental Health. Dr. Gerlach and Dr. Coburn, with the support of their team, are responsible for carrying out a wide variety of programs protective of both animal and human health, which in turn safeguards the health and food capacity of Alaska's livestock, reindeer (both magical and non-magical), and poultry, and prevents the transmission of animal disease to humans.

What does this look like on a day-to-day basis? The work that Dr. Gerlach, Dr. Coburn, and their team do includes:

• collaborating with veterinarians and partner agencies across the state to address issues such as tick surveillance and rabies outbreaks in Alaska
• conducting dairy inspections that look at both the health of the animals and the milk they produce to achieve a Grade "A" designation
• ensuring all domestic animals are cared for in the event of an area-wide emergency
• overseeing requirements for safely growing and selling produce in Alaska

"As you can imagine, I regularly work with livestock veterinarians around the world," said Santa Claus. "I can confirm that Dr. Gerlach and Dr. Coburn are top-notch, and are a real gift to Alaskans all year!"