[Adopted 4-11-1983 by Ord. No. 83-3 (Ch.
85, Art. I of the 1984 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding,
breeding or selling of dogs is carried on, except a pet shop.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, every person
having a right of property in such dog and every person who has such
dog in his keeping.
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association
of persons.
Any place of business which is not part of a kennel, wherein
animals, including, but not limited to, dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles,
rabbits, hamsters or gerbils, are kept or displayed chiefly for the
purpose of sale to individuals for personal.[1]
An establishment for confinement of dogs, whether seized
under provisions of this Article or otherwise.
Any establishment where dogs or other animals are received,
housed and distributed.[2]
[Amended 2-13-1996 by Ord. No. 96-1]
A.Â
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 a license and official metal registration
tag for each such dog so owned, kept or harbored, and shall place
upon each dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely
fastened thereto.
B.Â
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age
or of any dog which attains licensing age shall make application for
license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days after such
acquisition or age attainment.
C.Â
D.Â
No occupant of a residential unit situated on any
lot in a district which is zoned to primarily permit residential use
shall be entitled to apply for or receive individual licenses for
more than five dogs which are harbored or kept as domestic pets. The
limitation on the maximum number of licenses to be issued shall apply
irrespective of the number of occupants of each residential unit.
This limitation shall not apply to any active farming operation engaged
in any agricultural or horticultural use whereon a residential unit
is located.
A.Â
The person applying for the license and registration tag shall pay
a fee of $8.80, plus such other fee as fixed by statute for the licensing
and registration of each dog; and for each annual renewal, the fee
for the license and original license and tag; and said licenses, registration
tags and renewals thereof shall expire on the last day of January
in each year. The owner who does not pay the fee required for the
licensure and registration of a dog by the close of the last day of
January shall be subject to an additional charge of $5 per month per
dog for each month the license and registration fee remains unpaid.
This fee shall be paid in addition to any fee imposed by the court
upon conviction of any person who violates this provision.
[Amended 6-9-1986 by Ord. No. 86-10; 10-12-2004 by Ord. No.
04-6; 3-16-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-07]
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
and registered in the same manner as other dogs, except that the owner,
as defined herein, shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
[Amended 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-01]
A.Â
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought
into the Township 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.
B.Â
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought
into the Township 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.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 85-5, Licenses
for kennels, pet shops, shelters or pounds; fees, which immediately
followed this section, was repealed 12-10-1996 by Ord. No. 96-10.
[Amended 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-01]
A.Â
The Township Committee may appoint at such times and
for such terms as may from time to time seem expedient an Animal Control
Officer and such assistants as may be required, whose duty it shall
be to take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody
and impounded and thereafter destroyed or disposed of as provided
in this section:
(1)Â
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring said dog which said Animal Control Officer or
his assistant(s) have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2)Â
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)Â
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner
or of the person keeping or harboring such dog.
(4)Â
Any dog or other animal which is suspected to be rabid.
(5)Â
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.
B.Â
If any such dog seized as provided by Subsection A hereof wears a collar or harness to which is attached a registration tag or the owner is otherwise known, the Animal Control Officer shall forthwith serve on said owner a notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after the service of notice. Such notice may be served either by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or by leaving it at that 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.
C.Â
When any dog seized in accordance with Subsection A hereof has been detained for seven days after notice, when such 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 has not claimed said dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance costs not exceeding $4 per day, and if the dog be unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner has not produced a license and registration tag for said dog, the Animal Control Officer may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
D.Â
At the time of adoption, the right of ownership in
the animal shall transfer to the new owner. No dog or other animal
so caught and detained or procured, obtained, sent or brought to a
pound or shelter shall be sold or otherwise made available for the
purpose of experimentation. Any person who sells or otherwise makes
available any such dog or other animal for the purpose of experimentation
shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
E.Â
After observation, any animal seized under this section
suspected of being rabid shall be immediately reported to the executive
officer of the local board of health and to the Department of Health
and Senior Services.
[Amended 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-01]
The Township Committee shall biennially cause
a canvass to be made of all dogs owned or harbored within the said
Township and shall report the result, including the names of all persons
owning or harboring such animals, in the manner provided by law.
[Amended 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-01]
No person shall hinder, interfere with or molest
any person appointed as Animal Control Officer and any assistant employed
by him or any officer of the Township or other duly authorized agent
in the performance of any duty enjoined by this article.
A.Â
Any person owning, keeping, maintaining, harboring
or having charge of a dog in the Township of Independence shall:
B.Â
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent
the use of dogs for hunting purposes by duly licensed hunters, and
the barking, crying or howling of dogs while so employed shall not
be construed, for the purpose of this Article, as unreasonably disturbing
the peace or quiet of the neighborhood.
[Added 2-13-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-01]
A.Â
Purpose. This section is to establish requirements
for the proper disposal of pet solid waste so as to protect the health,
safety and welfare of all citizens residing in and visiting this municipality
and to prescribe penalties for failure to comply.
B.Â
IMMEDIATE
OWNER/KEEPER
PERSON
PET
PET SOLID WASTE
PROPER DISPOSAL
Definitions. As used in this section, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The pet solid waste is removed at once, without delay.
Any person who shall possess, maintain, house or harbor any
pet or otherwise have custody of any pet, whether or not the owner
of such pet.
Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm,
association or political subdivision of this state subject to municipal
jurisdiction.
A domesticated animal (other than a disability assistance
animal) kept for amusement or companionship.
Waste matter expelled from the bowels of the pet; excrement.
Placement in a designated waste receptacle, or other suitable
container, and discarded in a refuse container which is regularly
emptied by the municipality or some other refuse collector; or disposal
into a system designed to convey domestic sewage for proper treatment
and disposal.
C.Â
Nuisances prohibited; curbing of dogs; responsibility
of owner.
(1)Â
No person, agency or institution owning, harboring,
keeping or in charge of any dog shall cause or allow such dog to soil,
defile, defecate or commit any nuisance upon any public property or
private property whatsoever.
(2)Â
Any person in charge of any dog on any public street
or sidewalk shall immediately remove all feces deposited by such dog
by any sanitary method (shovel, container, disposal bag, etc.).
(3)Â
Any feces removed from the aforementioned areas shall
be properly disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping or
in charge of any dog in accordance with the provisions of this section
in a sanitary manner on said person's own property.
D.Â
Exemptions. Any owner or keeper who requires the use
of a disability assistance animal shall be exempt from the provisions
of this section while such animal is being used for that purpose.
E.Â
Enforcement. The provisions of this section shall
be enforced by the Police Department and the local Board of Health
of Independence Township or the Board of Health's designees.
[Amended 12-10-1984 by Ord. No. 84-11; 2-13-2007 by Ord. No.
2007-01; 9-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-05]
Except as provided in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.19, for
violation of any provision of this article, the penalty, upon conviction,
shall be a minimum fine not exceeding $100 and a maximum penalty of
one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment
not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding
90 days. Except as otherwise provided, each and every day in which
a violation of any provision of this article exists shall constitute
a separate violation.
No licensing 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 or operated under the immediate supervision of a graduate
veterinarian licensed in the State of New Jersey.