As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ABANDONED CAT
A cat of any age which shall be left unattended and at large
for a period of 72 hours or more.
CAT
Any animal of the feline species, male and female.
KEEPER
Any person having custody or control over a cat or permitting
a cat to remain on premises under his or her control.
OWNER
Every person having a right of property in such cat and every
person keeping or harboring such cat.
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of cats taken into custody
by the Animal Control Officer.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
A cat that damages either public or private property or harms
the lawful users or occupants thereof.
STRAY CAT
A cat having no known owner or custodian or known place of
care or shelter.
Any person who owns, keeps or harbors any cat
located within the Borough or permits a cat to enter the corporate
limits of the Borough shall exercise sufficient and proper care and
control over the animal at all times so as to prevent the animal from
becoming a public nuisance or otherwise violating this article.
The Animal Control Officer designated and authorized
by the Borough Council to enforce the provisions of this article shall,
upon receipt of a complaint that a violation has taken place, investigate
the complaint and, if a violation is found by him or her to exist,
issue a summons to the owner or keeper; or if the cat is a stray or
abandoned cat, take the cat into custody for a period of seven days
prior to disposition by him or her in accordance with the provisions
of this article. In addition, any cat that is the subject of a complaint
may be taken into custody if it bears any identification of ownership
and has a known owner or keeper but the owner or keeper cannot be
located after reasonable efforts are made by the Animal Control Officer
to deliver the cat to the owner or keeper.
If a cat bearing identification or evidence
of ownership or place of abode is taken into custody pursuant to the
provisions of this article, the Animal Control Officer or other authorized
person shall immediately thereafter notify the owner or occupant of
the place where the animal was found and taken into custody and that
it may be claimed at a designated location subject to the charges
and fees hereinafter set forth. The Animal Control Officer shall maintain
a record of the notifications, including the date and name and address
of persons notified.
[Amended 9-28-1997 by Ord. No. 1291]
During the aforementioned seven-day custodial period, any cat so taken into custody may be claimed by its owner upon payment to the Animal Control Officer or other authorized person of all reasonable expenses incurred by reason of its detention and care, not to exceed the sum as provided in Chapter
101, Fees. In addition to the foregoing fees and charges, a summons may be issued for the violation to a person who claims the cat as its owner or keeper.
Any cat which has been taken into custody pursuant
to this article and which has not been reclaimed during the custodial
period may be claimed by any person willing to assume the responsibility
of ownership and custodial charges as set forth above. Otherwise,
the cat may be disposed of in as humane a manner as possible and in
accordance with euthanasia procedures recommended by the American
Veterinary Medical Association.
The following shall apply:
A. No person owning, keeping or harboring any cat shall
permit it to soil, defile or commit any nuisance on any place where
people congregate or walk or upon any public property whatsoever.
This provision shall apply to all privately owned property in the
Borough except the property of the owner or keeper of the cat and
the property owned or controlled by persons who have invited or permitted
the owner or keeper of a cat to bring the cat upon the premises.
B. No person owning or keeping a cat shall permit the
cat to become a public nuisance as defined herein.
C. No person shall abandon any cat of any age or permit
a cat to become a stray.
[Added 3-25-1991 by Ord. No. 1172]
A. Definitions. As used in this section, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this section.
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species, male, female or
altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
CATTERY
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen not part
of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
KEEP or HARBOR
The habitually permitting to remain or to be lodged or to
be fed within a house, store, yard, enclosure or other place.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The agency or department of the Borough of Glen Rock or any
designated representative thereof charged with administering the issuance
and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions of
this section.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, shall include
every person having a right of property (or custody) in such cat and
every person who has such cat in his or her keeping or who harbors
or maintains a cat or knowingly permits a cat which can intermingle
with wild animals to remain on or about any premises occupied by that
person.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
B. Provisions relating to rabies vaccination of cats.
(1) Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall
own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within
the Borough of Glen Rock unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed.
The provisions of this section do not apply to cats held in a cattery
or those held by a state or federal licensed research facility or
a veterinary establishment where cats are received or kept for diagnostic,
medical, surgical or other treatments or licensed animal shelters,
pounds, kennels or pet shops.
(2) Vaccination. All cats shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the latest Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as provided for in Subsection
D herein.
(3) Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination
shall be issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended
by the state.
(4) Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements
of such vaccination for a specified period of time by the Borough
of Glen Rock Board of Health upon presentation of a veterinarian's
certificate stating that, because of an infirmity or other physical
condition or regimen of therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall
be deemed inadvisable.
C. Licensing requirements. The person applying for a license shall pay a fee as provided in Chapter
101, Fees, for each nonneutered or nonspayed cat and, as provided in Chapter
101, Fees, for each neutered or spayed cat. Persons who fail to obtain a license as required within the time period specified in this section will be subject to a delinquent fee as provided in Chapter
101, Fees.
[Amended 12-30-1996 by Ord. No. 1283; 9-28-1997 by Ord. No.
1291]
D. Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other
moneys collected or received under the provisions of this section
shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Borough of Glen Rock and
shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other
accounts of the municipality and shall be used for the following purposes
only: collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure,
for local prevention and control of rabies, providing anti-rabies
treatment under the direction of the Local Board of Health for any
person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies and for administering
the provisions of this section. Any unexpected balance remaining in
such special account shall be retained under 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 Borough of Glen Rock 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 proceeding.
E. Sick or diseased cats. Any cat showing a change in
disposition or illness or any cat that bites or scratches another
animal or human shall be quarantined for a period of 10 days. At the
end of the ten-day quarantine period, the animal must be examined
by a New Jersey State licensed veterinarian, and said veterinarian
must sign a notice attesting to the physical condition of the animal.
Owners of cats evidencing a change in disposition or illness shall
be required to have such animal analyzed by an approved veterinarian.
Any cost incurred in quarantining such animal or veterinary service
examination shall be paid for by the owner or harborer of such cat
or cats.
F. Restriction on number of cats; exceptions.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to
keep, maintain or harbor at any one time in any business establishment
or residential housing unit or on its grounds more than six cats.
This restriction shall not apply to properly licensed pet shops, kennels,
shelters and pounds.
(2) Any person who lawfully owned more than six cats prior
to the enactment of this section may retain their animals, provided
that they obtain a special permit from the Borough Clerk. The special
permit shall be for a term of one year, and no renewal shall be issued
without a subsequent inspection. If for any reason an animal is lost,
sold, given away or dies and there still remains in the residence
or apartment six or more cats, there can be no replacement of the
lost, sold, given or deceased animal. A special permit shall be issued
if after an inspection it is determined by the Borough of Glen Rock
Board of Health that:
(a)
The animals in the owner's possession are not
creating a nuisance;
(b)
There is adequate waste disposal; and
(c)
There is no hazard to public safety, health
and welfare.
G. Annual canvass. The Chief of Police of the Borough
shall annually cause a canvass of all cats owned, kept or harbored
within the limits of the Borough and shall report on or before September
1 of each year to the Borough Clerk and Borough Board of Health, if
required by law, the result thereof, setting forth the names and addresses
of persons owning, keeping or harboring such cats, the number of licensed
cats owned, kept or harbored, together with the license number of
each of said cats; and also setting forth the names and addresses
of persons owning, keeping or harboring unlicensed cats, the number
of unlicensed cats owned, kept or harbored by each said person, together
with a complete description for each unlicensed cat or cats.
[Amended 9-28-1997 by Ord. No. 1291]
H. Violations and penalties. Except as otherwise provided
in this article, any person who violates or who fails or refuses to
comply with this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable
to a penalty of not less than $30 nor more than $1,000 or to a period
of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or to a period of community
service not to exceed 90 days, or any combination thereof, for each
violation, to be recovered by and in the name of the Board of Health
or by and in the name of the municipality. Each day that a particular
violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 9-28-1997 by Ord. No. 1291]