On a cold night in November of 2000, Brockton Animal Control called Jeni Mather, the owner of J.M. Pet Resort (formerly J.M. K-9 Training). They had just picked up a giant Neapolitan Mastiff, with out-dated, out-of-state tags. They were unsuccessful in contacting the owners, and his days were numbered. This big guy needed a safe place to go.

Down at Animal Control, Blue stuck his big head through the kennel door, waggled his misshapen body, slobber and all, and greeted them with those powerful drooping eyes of his. It was LOVE at first sight!

But the happy well-mannered dog that folks know today as the "Brockton Blue Dog" was not an easy case. He needed to learn some manners and he was a difficult dog to train. But that was the easy part. As they would soon find out, Blue needed knee surgeries at an enormous price.

That's when the Brockton Blue Dog Shelter was born! We began with our first ever BlueFest, to raise money for the Blue's much needed knee surgery. We then began to open our hearts and doors to animals in need.

We have saved, trained, and successfully placed over 1100 dogs and cats into permanent loving homes. We normally house between 12 to 20 animals for adoption. We are always in need of funds to help pay for veterinary care, food, training, supplies and boarding. All contributions go directly towards helping the animals!

Our Mission

The mission of the Brockton Blue Dog Shelter is to ease suffering of unwanted and unprotected animals.

• We will provide a safe haven for good animals in need of a shelter, provided we have the necessary resources for proper care and training
• Overpopulation is a primary contributor to animal suffering - we will spay/neuter every animal we rescue
• Health and cleanliness is a key issue to all of our rescues - we will provide a clean environment, with daily exercise, good diet, and the best healthcare our resources can provide, while an animal is in our trust
• Behavior problems are a key issue for animal relinquishment - we will train our rescues in basic obedience and work with any known behavior issues
• Inappropriate family match-ups frequently result in abandonment - we will make every effort to know our adoption animals and our adoption families, to make a lifetime bond
• Lack of knowledge about the extent of the commitment to an animal often leads owners to be unprepared - we will show new owners the meaning of being a steward to their pets
• Animal dominance often leads to surrender of an animal, we will help to create good leadership skills in new owners
• Animal break-out often leads to separation - we will ensure the best environment to cater to each animal
• With the best of intentions, sometimes animals have to be relinquished - every animal that passes through the Brockton Blue Dog Shelter is part of the family, they are always welcomed back, if for any reason that they have not found the right home
• Our future goal, or "Jeni's Wish", is to create a safe sanctuary of empathy and love for these marvelous friends, to be named "Sunshine's Haven". (Sunshine was a beautifully sweet Bull Mastiff. Owned and loved by Jeni Dwyer, owner of J.M. K-9 Training and founder of BBDS, Sunshine spent a lot of her time guiding the way for many adoption dogs at the shelter. In the fall of 2002, she was diagnosed with lymph node cancer. Everyone was hoping that chemotherapy would keep her happy and alive for a few more years, but sadly Sunshine passed away on June 3, 2003, after battling cancer for more than nine months.

Our Goal for the Future

This goal of a sanctuary, however, takes hard work and a lot of money and resources. If you are interested in helping out "Jeni's Wish", please send donations to the Brockton Blue Dog Shelter with "Sunshine's Haven" in the memo line. If there is a service your company would like to offer or donate to the construction of the sanctuary, please call us at 508.436.6446.