FARMINGTON—Since she started fostering animals in 2020 for Animal Care of Davis County, Cindy Blanchard has lost count of how many dogs and cats she’s cared for in her home while they waited to be adopted. 

Mama Otter, now known as Murphy, feeds her puppies. Courtesy photo

 Most recently, Blanchard stepped in to take care of five puppies and their mother after the puppies were thrown from a moving vehicle and the mother was found malnourished and barely hanging on. For her hard work and dedication, Blanchard was honored by the Davis County Commissioners recently as 2025 Foster of the Year.

“I have always had a love for animals growing up,” said Blanchard. “I was always that one kid that wanted to bring a sick animal home or help any animal.”

Blanchard said she always had cats and dogs her whole life and as an adult. “But it wasn’t until probably 2018-2019 I started to visit the Davis County shelter a lot – just to see the animals and to love on them down the cat hall or in the dog area.”

Finally a year later one of the workers said “Hey you’re here all the time why don’t you sign up as a volunteer?” “So I signed up as a volunteer and started coming around a little bit doing dog walking. I had a couple of dogs myself but my oldest, largest dog was having a hard time going on long walks and I was kind of missing that so I started volunteering to walk the dogs.”

Blanchard said she switched to the cat hall. “I kind of felt guilty for walking their dogs when I couldn’t take my big dog for that long of a walk. So I started volunteering there. It was 2020 when that same worker said ‘hey, why don’t you think about fostering?’”

During the pandemic the shelter was very full, she said. “The cat hall and dog kennels – everything was really full. I signed up and did the class. My first foster was one tiny little orange kitten and they told me that probably the next week I would get his two siblings.”

So that was week one, said Blanchard. “I had just the one kitten I think was four to five weeks old. My husband fell in love with him and of course we ‘foster failed.’”

The goal is always to say goodbye and get them adopted, she said. “But of course I failed because we adopted him and we kept him. With all the animals it's hard. You get very, very attached. Since 2020 I lost track (of how many) after 100.”

Blanchard has an in-home salon and many of her clients come in and want to see the animals. “Everybody knows my love for animals,” she said. “People come in and want to see them and I get them adopted before they’re even due for their surgeries. At the shelter you can’t legally adopt an animal until it has been spayed or neutered.”

It takes time and dedication, said Blanchard. “Especially if an animal is sick. I’ve taken care of plenty of very, very sick animals.”

Blanchard said taking care of the puppies who were thrown from the car was a tough case. “It was emotionally disturbing. They posted on our foster group online that they had two puppies come in. We had a mama that came in. We need fosters for two puppies because they’re too young to stay here. They didn’t know that it was going to roll into this whole five puppies and a mom that were abandoned.”

So as the day went on it became, “now there’s two puppies, now there’s three puppies and a mom,” she said. “So I did reach out because the mom was in really bad condition. She was emaciated. Her skin was just hanging on her bones. She needed special care and medical attention.”

That case was probably the most intense, said Blanchard. “Emotions were running high just because you had seven puppies that were thrown out of a moving vehicle at 65-75 mph and two of them died. During the night they were hit. Of the ones that survived one had several lacerations and was limping pretty badly. Even when he left here after three weeks and went to his new home he was still limping a little bit but he’s recovered well.”

Fostering is something Blanchard loves and enjoys. “We can be the animals’ voice,” she said. “We can stand up for them in a situation like this.”