[Adopted by Ord. No. 52-56 (Ch. V, Sec. 5-1, of the 1986 Revised General Ordinances)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog shall include
every person having a right of property in such dog and every person
who has such dog in his keeping.
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
An establishment for the confinement of dogs seized either
under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed.[1]
[Amended by Ord. No. 197-76; Ord. No. 289-81]
The following regulations are hereby established pursuant to
Chapter 151 of the Laws of 1941 and amendments thereto:
A.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog which has attained
the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth
shall annually apply for and procure from the Animal Control Officer
at the Municipal Building during such hours as designated by the Township
Council a license and official metal registration tag for each dog
so owned, kept or harbored and shall place on each such dog a collar
or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
B.
The person applying for or renewing a license and registration tag shall pay a license fee as set forth in Chapter 235, Fees. The deadline for applying for a dog license and registration tag shall be January 31 of each year. Any person applying late for a license and/or registration tag shall pay, in addition, a late charge as set forth in Chapter 235, Fees.
C.
Exemption
from fees for disability assistance dogs. 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 and registered as provided in this article;
provided, however, that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not
be required to pay any fee therefor. Proof of service dog status may
be required.[2]
D.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or of any dog which attains the licensing age, as provided in Subsection A of this section, shall make application for a license and registration tag within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment.
E.
No person, except an officer in the performance of his duties, shall
remove a registration tag from the collar or harness of any dog without
the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration
tag to a dog for which it was not issued.
F.
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel,
pet shop, shelter or a pound shall apply to the Township Clerk for
a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment. Such
application shall describe the premises where the establishment is
located, or is proposed to be established, the purpose or purposes
for which it is to be maintained, and shall be accompanied by the
written approval of the Board of Health of the Township showing compliance
with the local and state rules and regulations governing the location
of and sanitation at such establishment.
G.
All licenses issued for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall
state the purpose for which the establishment is maintained, and all
such licenses shall expire on the last day of June of each year and
be subject to revocation by the Township Council, on recommendation
of the State Department of Health or the Board of Health of the Township,
for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State
Department of Health or the Township Board of Health after the owner
has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health
or the Board of Health of the Township. Any person holding such license
shall not be required to secure licenses for dogs owned by such licensee
and kept at such establishments; such licenses shall not be transferable
to another person or different premises.[3]
I.
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be permitted
off such premises, except on a leash or in a crate or other safe control.
J.
License fees collected or received under the provisions of this section,
except registration tag fees, shall be received and forwarded to the
Chief Financial Officer of the Township and shall be used for the
following purposes only:
(1)
For collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable to seizure under
this article or under local dog control ordinances; for local prevention
and control of rabies; for providing antirabic treatment under the
direction of the local Board of Health for any person known or suspected
to have been exposed to rabies; for payment of damage to or losses
of poultry and domestic animals, except dogs and cats, caused by a
dog or dogs; and for administering the provisions of this article.
Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account shall be
retained therein until the end of the third fiscal year following
and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section.
At the end of the third fiscal year following, and at the end of each
fiscal year thereafter, there shall be transferred from such special
account to the general funds of the Township any amount then in such
account which is in excess of the total amount paid into the special
account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
(2)
The registration tag fee of $1 for each dog shall be forwarded within
30 days after collection by the Clerk or other official designated
to license dogs to the State Department of Health.
K.
The Township Clerk or any person appointed by the Township Council
to license dogs in the Township shall forward to the State Department
of Health a list of all kennels, pet shops, shelters and pounds licensed
within 30 days after the licenses therefor are issued, which list
shall include the name and address of the licensee and the kind of
license issued.
L.
The Animal Control Officer or any person appointed for the purpose
by the Township Council shall biennially cause a canvass to be made
of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the Township
and shall report, on or before September 1 of the year in which the
census is taken, to the Township Clerk or other person designated
to license dogs in the Township and to the Board of Health of the
Township the result thereof, setting forth in separate columns the
names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring unlicensed
dogs, the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each
of these persons, together with a complete description of each of
the unlicensed dogs.[5]
M.
Potentially dangerous dog license. In the event a dog is declared to be potentially dangerous in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-24, the owner shall obtain a potentially dangerous dog license from the Township Clerk or any person appointed by the Township Council to license dogs in the Township. The fee for a potentially dangerous dog license shall be as set forth in Chapter 235, Fees, and for each annual renewal, the owner shall pay the same fee for the license as the original license.
[Amended 4-7-1988 by Ord. No. 399-88]
