[Adopted 5-13-1970 as Ch. VII of the 1970 Revised General Ordinances (Ch.
137, Art. I, of the 1992 Code)]
Words used in this article shall have the meanings ascribed
to such words in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1, except, as used in this article,
the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any person exercising control over a dog or permitting a
dog to remain on premises under his control.
Licenses shall be required for the following dogs of licensing
age:
A.Â
Any dog owned or kept within the Borough by a resident of the Borough
on the first day of January of any calendar year.
B.Â
Any dog acquired by any person during the course of any calendar
year and kept within the Borough for more than 10 days after acquisition.
C.Â
Any dog attaining licensing age during the course of the calendar
year.
D.Â
Any licensed dog brought into the Borough by any person and kept
within the Borough for more than 10 days.
E.Â
Any dog licensed by another state brought into the Borough by any
person and kept within the Borough for more than 90 days.
Applications for licenses for dogs which are required to be licensed by the provisions of § 164-2A shall be made before the first day of February of each calendar year. In all other cases, an application for a license shall be made within 10 days of the day upon which the dog in question first becomes subject to the provisions of this article.[2]
[Amended 12-18-1975 by Ord. No. 75-18; 10-8-1981 by Ord. No. 81-8; 4-26-1984 by Ord. No. 84-8; 8-18-1988 by Ord. No. 88-4; 12-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-15; 10-26-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-9]
The person applying for a license shall pay a fee of $12 for
nonneutered dogs and $10 for neutered dogs for each dog. The same
fee shall be charged for the annual renewal of a license and registration
tag.
Each dog license and registration tag shall expire on January
1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which it was
issued.
B.Â
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "Seeing
Eye dogs," dogs used to assist handicapped persons and commonly known
as "service dogs," and dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly
known as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed in the same manner as
other dogs, except that the owner or keeper shall not be required
to pay any fee.[1]
A.Â
License required. Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to
establish a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall apply to the
Clerk for a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment.
Any person holding such license shall not be required to secure individual
licenses for dogs owned by him and kept at such establishments. These
licenses shall not be transferable to another owner or a different
premises.
B.Â
Application information. An application shall contain the following
information:
(1)Â
The name and permanent and local address of the applicant.
(2)Â
The street address where the establishment is located or proposed
to be located, together with a general description of the premises.
(3)Â
The purposes for which it is to be maintained.
(4)Â
The maximum number of dogs to be accommodated by the establishment
at any one time.
C.Â
Approval of Health Officer. No license shall be issued until the
proposed licensee submits a written statement from the Health Officer
that the establishment or proposed establishment complies with local
and state rules governing the location of and sanitation at such establishment.
F.Â
Compliance with state regulations.
(1)Â
A license issued for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be
subject to revocation by the Council on recommendation of the State
Department of Health or the Board of Health of the Borough for failure
to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department of
Health or the Borough Board of Health, after the owner has been afforded
a hearing by either the State Department of Health or the Borough
Board of Health.
(2)Â
Any person holding a license to establish, keep or operate a kennel,
pet shop, shelter or pound shall comply with all Borough ordinances
and the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department
of Health governing the sanitary conduct and operation of kennels,
pet shops, shelters and pounds, the preservation of sanitation therein
and the prevention of the spread of rabies and other diseases of dogs
within and from such establishments.
G.Â
Report to State Health Department. The Clerk shall forward to the
State Department of Health a list of all kennels, pet shops, shelters
and pounds within 30 days after the licenses therefor are issued,
which list shall include the name and address of each licensee and
the kind of license issued.
H.Â
Control of dogs off premises. No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop,
shelter or pound shall be permitted off such premises, except on leash
or in a crate or other safe control.
A.Â
License fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions
of this article, except the registration tag fees, shall be forwarded
to the Borough Treasurer within 30 days after collection or receipt
and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the
other accounts of the Borough and shall be used for the following
purposes only: collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable to
seizure; local prevention and control of rabies; providing antirabies
treatment under the direction of the Board of Health for any person
known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; all other purposes
prescribed by New Jersey statutes governing the subject and for administering
the provisions of this article. Any unexpected balance remaining in
the special account shall be retained until the end of the third fiscal
year following and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in
this subsection. At the end of the third fiscal year following and
at the end of each fiscal year thereafter, there shall be transferred
from the special account to the general funds of the Borough any amount
then in the account which is in excess of the total amount paid into
the special account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
The Chief of Police shall annually cause a canvass to be made
of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the Borough and shall report
to the Clerk, the Board of Health and the State Department of Health
the results thereof, setting forth in separate columns the names and
addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring dogs; the number
of licensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each person, together
with the registration number of each dog; and the number of unlicensed
dogs owned, kept or harbored by each person, together with a complete
description of each unlicensed dog.[1]
[Amended 12-20-1993 by Ord. No. 93-19]
A.Â
Causes for impounding. The Animal Control Officer shall take into
custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded,
destroyed or offered for adoption any of the following dogs:[1]
(1)Â
Any unlicensed dog running at large in violation of the provisions
of this article.
(2)Â
Any dog off the premises of the owner or the person keeping or harboring
such dog which the Animal Control Officer or his agent has reason
to believe is a stray dog.
(3)Â
Any dog off the premises of the owner of or the person keeping or
harboring such dog without a current registration tag on its collar.
(4)Â
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner of or the
person keeping or harboring such dog.
(5)Â
Any dog which has been determined to be a vicious dog, provided that
such dogs may also be seized by any police officer; and provided,
further, that if such dogs cannot be seized with safety they may be
killed.
B.Â
Access to premises. Any officer or agent authorized or empowered
to perform any duty under this article is authorized to go upon any
premises to seize for impounding any dog which he may lawfully seize
and impound when such officer is in immediate pursuit of the dog,
except upon the premises of the owner of the dog if the owner is present
and forbids it.
C.Â
Notice of seizure. If any dog so impounded or seized wears a registration
tag, collar or harness having inscribed thereon or attached thereto
the name and address of any person or if the owner or the person keeping
or harboring the dog is known, the Animal Control Officer shall immediately
serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the
person owning, keeping or harboring the dog a notice, in writing,
stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be offered
for adoption or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after the
service of the notice. A notice under this subsection may be served
either by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or
leaving it at the person's usual or last known place of abode or at
the address given on the collar or by forwarding it by mail in a prepaid
letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of
abode or to the address given on the collar.[2]
D.Â
Disposition of unclaimed dogs. The Animal Control Officer is authorized
and empowered to cause the destruction of any unclaimed dog in as
humane a manner as possible, under any of the following conditions:
(1)Â
When the dog has not been claimed by the person owning, keeping or harboring it within seven days of the dog's detention when notice has not been or cannot be given, as set forth in Subsection C.
(3)Â
If the dog is unlicensed at the time of its seizure, and the person
owning, keeping or harboring it has not produced a license and registration
tag.
No person shall own, keep or harbor a dog in the Borough except
in compliance with the provisions of this article and the following
regulations:
A.Â
Wearing of registration. A dog for which a license is required by
the provisions of this article shall wear a collar or harness with
its registration tag securely fastened thereto.
B.Â
Interference with official duties. No person shall hinder, molest
or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty
under this article.
C.Â
Disturbing the peace. No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain
a dog which habitually barks or cries between the hours of 8:00 p.m.
and 8:00 a.m.
D.Â
Dogs running at large prohibited; leash and control required.
[Amended 7-11-1974 by Ord. No. 74-5]
(1)Â
No person owning or having control, custody or possession of a dog
shall permit or suffer such dog to run at large or to go or be upon
the public streets, sidewalks or other public places within the Borough
unless said dog shall be on a leash, which leash shall have an overall
length, including the handgrip, which shall not exceed six feet, and
in the custody of some person or persons capable of controlling such
dog.[1]
E.Â
Property damage. No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall
permit it to do any injury or damage to lawns, shrubbery, flowers,
grounds or property.
[Amended 12-20-1993 by Ord. No. 93-19]
The Council shall appoint an Animal Control Officer, whose duty
it shall be to enforce the provisions of this article. The Council
may also appoint one or more persons, to be known as "dog catchers,"
who may impound unlicensed dogs running at large in violation of the
provisions of this article.