[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Franklin as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. 182.
[Adopted 12-6-1974 (Ch. 64 of the 1988 Code)]
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
For the purposes of this article, unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary, the words used in this article shall have the meanings ascribed to them in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1. The following words shall have the stated meanings:
PERSON
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association of persons.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Franklin, in the County of Hunterdon and State of New Jersey.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of January of each year, apply for and procure from the Township Clerk or other official designated by the Township Committee to license dogs in the Township, a license and official metal registration tag for each such dog so owned, kept or harbored, and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 12-30-1981 by Ord. No. 81-9, 12-2-1983 by Ord. No. 83-4]
A. 
The person applying for the license and registration tag shall pay a fee, as established by Chapter 182, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Franklin, which shall include the state fee for such license according to state statute. For each annual renewal, the fee for the license and registration tag shall be the same as the original fee, and said license and registration tags and renewal thereof shall expire on the 31st day of January of each year.
[Amended 12-3-1992 by Ord. No. 92-23; 4-18-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-03]
B. 
Any dog owner or person harboring a dog, found to have an unlicensed dog by the Franklin Township Licensing Official, Dog Canvasser or other municipal official after May 1, shall be required to pay an additional delinquent fee, as established by Chapter 182, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Franklin, plus the required license fee as provided in this article for his dog license, together with any other fines due to summonses issued that may be imposed on him as provided in this article for failure to obtain a dog license before February 1. The aforementioned fee shall not apply to dogs which have been acquired by the owner after June 1, for which the license fee shall be the same as required in Subsection A of this section. The owner, however, must present sufficient proof to establish that said dog was acquired after June 1.
[Amended 4-18-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-03; 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
C. 
Only one license and registration tag shall be required in any licensing year for any dog previously licensed and registered in another New Jersey municipality, and such license and tag shall be accepted in the Township as evidence of compliance herewith, except that when ownership, possession or custody of the dog is transferred to another person, the transferee shall comply with § 116-4 hereof.
D. 
Dogs used as guides for blind persons, commonly known as "Seeing Eye" dogs and "service" dogs and "hearing ear" dogs, shall be licensed and registered as other dogs herein provided for, except that the owners or keepers of such dogs shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
[Amended 2-4-1988 by Ord. No. 88-2]
The official designated by the Township Committee to license dogs shall not grant any such license and official metal registration tag for any dog unless the owner provides evidence that the dog to be licensed and registered has been inoculated with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare or has been certified exempt as provided by regulations of the State Department of Health. Such vaccination shall be repeated at intervals as provided by regulations of the State Department of Health and shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
A. 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into New Jersey any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog unless such dog is licensed under the provisions of this article relating to kennels or pet shops.
B. 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into New Jersey any unlicensed dog and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog unless such dog is licensed under the sections of this article relating to kennels or pet shops.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color, markings and name, if any, of the dog for which license and registration are sought, and whether it is of a long- or short-haired variety; whether it has been surgically debarked; also the name, street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog.
[Amended 6-4-1984 by Ord. No. 84-8; 9-8-1988 by Ord. No. 88-6; 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
No dog shall be allowed off the premises of the person harboring or keeping the dog, except on a leash having a length of not more than six feet.
No person, except an officer in the performance of his duties, shall remove a registration tag from the collar 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.
A. 
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel, a pet shop, a shelter or a pound shall apply to the official designated to license dogs in the Township for a license entitling him or her to keep or operate such establishment.
[Amended 2-5-1987 by Ord. No. 87-4]
B. 
The application shall describe the premises where the establishment is located or is proposed to be located and the purpose or purposes for which it is to be maintained and shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Township Board of Health showing compliance with the local and state rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation at such establishment.
[Amended 2-5-1987 by Ord. No. 87-4]
C. 
The annual license fee for a kennel shall be as established by Chapter 182, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Franklin. The annual license fee for a pet shop shall be as established by Chapter 182, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Franklin. No fees shall be charged for a shelter or pound.
[Amended 2-5-1987 by Ord. No. 87-4]
D. 
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 on recommendation of the State Department of Health or the Township Board of Health for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department or Township Board governing the same, after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department or Township Board.
[Amended 2-5-1987 by Ord. No. 87-4; 2-4-1988 by Ord. No. 88-2]
E. 
Any person holding such license shall not be required to secure individual licenses for dogs owned by such licensee and kept at such establishment; such licenses shall not be transferable to another owner or different premises.
[Amended 2-5-1987 by Ord. No. 87-4]
F. 
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.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article is hereby authorized to go on any premises to seize for impounding any dog or dogs which he may lawfully seize or 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 same.
A. 
Any person appointed for the purpose by the Township Committee shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded, and thereafter destroyed and disposed of as provided in this section:
(1) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog which said official or his agent or agents have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on his collar.
(3) 
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
(4) 
Any dog or other animal which is suspected to be rabid.
[Added 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
(5) 
Any dog or other animal off the premises of the owner reported to, or observed by, a certified Animal Control Officer to be ill, injured or creating a threat to public health, safety or welfare, or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment of property.
[Added 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
B. 
If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness having inscribed thereon or attached thereto the name and address of any person or a registration tag of the owner, or if the person keeping or harboring said dog is known, any person authorized by the Township Committee shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar, or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog, if known, 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.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
C. 
A notice under this section may be served either by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or by 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 post 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.
D. 
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven days after notice, when notice can be given as above set forth, or has been detained for seven days after seizure, when no notice has been given as above set forth, and if the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not claimed said dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance not exceeding the amount established by Chapter 182, and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not produced a license and registration tag for said dog, any person authorized by the Township Committee may cause such dog to be offered for adoption or destroyed in manner causing as little pain as possible.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article.
No provision of this article shall be construed to apply to any establishment wherein or whereon dogs are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other treatment, owned by and operated under the immediate supervision of a graduate veterinarian licensed in the State of New Jersey.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
A person appointed by the Township Committee shall annually or 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 May 1 of each year, to the Clerk or other person designated to license dogs in the Township and to the local Board of Health and to the State Department of Health 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 said persons, together with a complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs, together with such other information as may be required by the Township Committee.
The official designated 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.
[Amended 10-31-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-12]
Unless another penalty is provided by N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1 et seq., any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with the terms of this article or the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Health for kennels, pet shops, shelters and pounds shall be liable to the penalties provided in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty.