[Adopted 12-3-1990 by Ord. No. 1990-20[1]]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A certified municipal animal control officer or, in the absence
of such an officer, the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality
or his designee.
The New Jersey State Department of Health.
Any dog or dog hybrid of either sex, whether or not neutered
or spayed.
Any cat, dog or livestock other than poultry.
Refers to N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq., and all amendments thereof
and supplements thereto.
Any panel selected pursuant to the enabling statute.
Any dog or dog hybrid declared potentially dangerous by the
panel pursuant to the enabling statute.
Any dog or dog hybrid declared vicious by the panel pursuant
to the enabling statute.
A.
It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police of this
municipality to receive and investigate complaints involving attacks
or bites by dogs, dogfighting activities and the training or encouragement
of dogs to make unprovoked attacks upon persons or domestic animals.
B.
It shall be the duty of all appropriate Township officials
to enforce the provisions of the enabling statute as applicable within
the Township. In the event that a hearing is to be convened pursuant
to the statute just cited, the County Board of Health shall be notified
and shall convene such a hearing, select the panel, conduct the hearing
and carry out the decisions of the panel.
C.
The owner of any dog which has been declared vicious
or potentially dangerous shall be responsible for all actual costs
and expenses of impounding and destroying said dog, convening said
hearing, the notices in connection therewith and all other related
expenses incurred by the Township. In the event that any dog is impounded
pursuant to the enabling statute in a facility other than the Township
pound, the owner shall be responsible for all actual costs and expenses
of impounding said dog, regardless of whether the dog is declared
vicious or potentially dangerous.
No person shall keep or harbor within the Township of Lumberton any dog which has been declared potentially dangerous without obtaining from the Township Clerk/Administrator a special municipal license and complying with all requirements of the enabling statute, this Article and the order of the panel. The fee for a license to keep in the municipality a potentially dangerous dog shall be as set forth in § 136-3G of Article I of this chapter. The Township Clerk/Administrator, when issuing such a license, shall assign a municipal registration number in accordance with the uniform statewide municipal registration system established by the regulations of the Department, together with a red identification tag. Prior to the issuance of such a license, the Animal Control Officer shall verify to the Township Clerk/Administrator that the owner of the dog has complied with the panel's orders.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
Article, the seizure and impoundment of dogs pursuant to the enabling
statute and as provided for in this Article, shall be governed by
the provisions of the statute cited.
Any dog that has been impounded pursuant to
the provisions of this Article and the statute herein cited who remains
unclaimed for seven days after notice or for seven days after seizure
when it is not possible to serve notice shall be subject to disposal,
except as may be otherwise required by the enabling statute and this
Article. The Animal Control Officer may cause any dog subject to disposal
to be humanely put to death in a manner causing the least possible
pain to the dog.
The owner of a potentially dangerous dog who
is found by a preponderance of the evidence to have violated the statute
herein cited or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto or
to have failed to comply with the panel's order shall be subject to
a fine of not more than $1,000 per day of the violation, and each
day's continuance of the violation shall constitute a separate and
distinct violation. The Lumberton Township Municipal Court shall have
jurisdiction to enforce this penalty. An Animal Control Officer is
authorized to seize and impound any potentially dangerous dog whose
owner falls to comply with the provisions of the statute or any rule
or regulation adopted pursuant thereto or a panel's order. The Municipal
Court may order that the dog so seized and impounded be destroyed
in an expeditious and humane manner.
