The Township Council shall have the power to
appoint an Animal Control Officer, who shall function under the direction
of the Chief of Police of the Township.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered
to perform any duty under this Act is hereby authorized to go upon any premises to seize
for impounding any dog or dogs which he may lawfully seize and impound
when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such dog or dogs, except
upon the premises of the owner of the dog if said owner is present
and forbids the same. (N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.17)
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
No person owning, keeping, harboring or having
custody of any dog(s) shall suffer or permit said dog(s) to be upon
the public streets or in any of the public places or semipublic areas
of a multidwelling complex of the Township unless such dog is accompanied
by a person and is securely confined and controlled by an adequate
leash not more than 10 feet long.
The enforcement officer shall serve notice upon
the owner or person in charge of a dog, cat or other animal which
has attacked or bitten a person, to confine the animal at the expense
of the owner or person in charge of it upon the premises of the owner
or person in charge or at some other place designated in the notice
for at least 10 days after the animal has attacked or bitten a person.
(N.J.S.A. 26:4-82)
An animal quarantined under order shall not
be released until a certificate of release has been issued by the
Board of Health. (N.J.S.A. 26:4-85)
A duly authorized agent of the Township shall
be permitted by the owner or person in charge of a dog, cat or other
animal which has attacked or bitten a person, to examine the animal
at any time, and daily if desired, within a period of 10 days after
the animal has attacked or bitten a person, to determine whether the
animal shows symptoms of rabies. No person shall refuse, obstruct
or interfere with the examination. (N.J.S.A. 26:4-86)
The Township Council may designate any time
during which dogs outside the owners', keepers' or harborers' premises
shall be muzzled, such designation to be by publication at least three
times in a newspaper in which legal notices of the Township may be
published, and after such publication, no person owning, keeping or
harboring a dog shall permit it upon a public highway, public place
or outside the premises occupied by said owner, keeper or harborer
during the period designated unless such dog wears a muzzle securely
fastened over its jaws in such manner that it cannot bite.
The Mayor and the Township Clerk, with the consent
of the governing body of such municipality, may, whenever the public
safety may require such action, issue a proclamation authorizing the
killing of any dog or dogs in a pack found running at large within
the Township without being properly muzzled with a wire muzzle securely
fastened about the nose. (N.J.S.A. 26:4-9)
The Township Council may appoint one or more
persons to kill dogs running at large after the issuance of a proclamation
as provided above, and any such person or persons so appointed shall
have full power and authority and are hereby authorized to kill any
such dogs found running at large. No dog shall be killed until notice
of the proclamation has been given for one day by written or printed
handbills, and no dog shall be killed which is accompanied by its
owner. (N.J.S.A. 26:4-91)
[Amended 8-17-1984 by Ord. No. 14-1984; 11-2-1984 by Ord. No. 26-1984; 8-18-1988 by Ord. No. 15-1988]
Any person who shall molest, obstruct or interfere with the poundkeeper, a dog catcher, a dog warden, an animal control officer, a member of the Police Department of the Township or any other duly authorized agent or representative of the Township while engaged in the enforcement of Part
1 of this chapter or any persons who shall violate any of the provisions hereof shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable for each offense by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days or to a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.