Worldwide there are 4,000 breeds of domestic animals, over 1,000 of which are in critical need of conservation to ensure their survival. On average, one breed of livestock goes extinct each month, which is a permanent loss of valuable genetics. Family farms and farmland are slowly disappearing around the world. The skills of farming, however, can be passed on from one generation to the next, yet those skills can dissipate if not used in future generations. Conners Foundation was established to encourage the preservation and promotion of Rare, Heritage and Miniature Breed Domestic Animals as well as the Native and Agricultural Heritage connected to them through Education, Advocacy, and Conservation.

At Conners Foundation, we are working together with other breeders to increase the population size and ensure genetic diversity in our rare and heritage breeds. By promoting responsible breeding and facilitating the exchange of genetics within the population, we hope to secure the continued existence and viability of these breeds. These breeds of plants and animals hold a wealth of genetic materials that are key to the sustainability of our agricultural system.

In addition to working with rare, heritage and miniature breeds, we are working to preserve the methods of utilizing their products to create an economically and ecologically responsible pastoral system. Through educational programs, we work to share the linked history of the rare breeds and the traditional Native and agropastoralist life ways that rely upon the breeds. We are working to preserve the Native American tradition of the harmonious balance of spirit, mind and body with the natural environment. The inter-relatedness of Native American philosophy emphasizes that the family of Mother Earth includes animals, plants, and minerals. We call our animal-facilitated therapy our MINI-STRIES.

Conners MINI-STRIES – Our “MINI” STRIES encourage, enrich and empower individuals through the therapeutic benefits of using Miniature Therapy Farm Animals. Therapy Farm Animals provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, hospices, courts, jails, prisons, schools and to people with learning difficulties, or to those who find themselves in stressful situations, such as a post-disaster area experience as well as Veterans with PTSD. Studies have shown that holding and caressing an animal provides benefits such as lowering of blood pressure, improving long- and short-term memory, sensory stimuli, the release of strain and tension, and can draw out a person from loneliness and depression. A Therapy Farm Animal is born, not made. We can teach an animal mannerly behavior, but one cannot change an animal’s inherent temperament. When an animal is put under stress, poor or marginal temperament will surface. Conners Foundation Bloodlines have been producing Therapy Farm Animals with outstanding temperaments since 1993. They were born with a gift…to love and heal.