Based on my own field materials collected in the Allaikhovskii and Nizhnekolymskii regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), I will analyze the projects of the local indigenous peoples aimed at developing animal breeding at the end of the 20th and 21st centuries. Most adaptive patterns of the local communities are based on the rich relationship between humans and animals who allowed people to provide themselves with various resources, served for transport purposes, etc. Modernization, industrialization, transition of nomadic and semi-nomadic communities to settled life in the 20th century changed the situation. The delivery of resources to the region from outer economic centers and introduction of new modes of transport reduced the intensity of connections between people and animals. However, raise of ethnic self-awareness in post-Soviet era caused new symbolic meaning of animals within the framework of the “revived” tradition. Animals became the most important actors in projects for transforming local territories and communities. I will focus on two types of animals: dogs and reindeer, and show how people imagined and planned future of local societies through animals, and also what this led to. Three features are common for these cases: a) these projects were inspired by the local residents; b) animals are perceived in close connection with the “traditional” way of life, which the local leaders wanted to produce; b) the development of animal breeding were planned as a complex action that required the creation of a multifactor infrastructure and affected many areas of everyday life of local residents. My report is a contribution to the development of a complex approach to the study of anthropological phenomena, necessary for a more complete understanding of the relationships between people, animals and other components of the environment.