For the purpose of this article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ANIMAL CARE FACILITIES
Collective term to include kennels, pet shops, shelters,
pounds, animal rescue organizations and animal foster homes.
[Added 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this article.
[Added 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATION
An individual or group of individuals who, with or without
salary or compensation, house and care for homeless animals in the
home of an individual or in other facilities with the intent of placing
the animals in responsible, more permanent homes as soon as possible.
[Added 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
DOG
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
DOG OF LICENSING AGE
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
FOSTER HOME
Placement of an animal with an individual or group that is
not an animal rescue organization for the purpose of temporarily caring
for the animal, without the individual or group assuming ownership
and with the intent of the individual or group being to relinquish
the animal to a suitable owner when one is located.
[Added 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
IMMEDIATE
Shall mean that the pet solid waste is removed at once, without
delay.
[Added 2-1-2006 by Ord. No. 1-06]
KENNEL
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling animals for sale is carried on, except a pet shop.
[Amended 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The agency or department of Jefferson Township or any designated
representative thereof charged with administering the issuance and/or
revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions of this article.
[Added 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
[Added 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
OWNER
Shall be liberally construed under this article to include
any person who has proprietorship in an animal, including any person
having care, custody or control of, or harboring, said animal or keeping
the same under his dominion. A person shall be deemed to have an animal
in his keeping and under his dominion or control whenever the ownership
or custody of any animal is in the possession of an unemancipated
family member or other member of his/her household.
[Amended 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm,
association, or political subdivision of this state subject to municipal
jurisdiction.
[Added 2-1-2006 by Ord. No. 1-06]
PET
A domesticated animal (other than a disability assistance
animal) kept for amusement or companionship.
[Added 2-1-2006 by Ord. No. 1-06]
PET SHOP
A place of business which sells animals, including but not
limited to dogs, cats, birds, fishes, reptiles, rabbits, hamsters
or gerbils, primarily for companionship.
[Amended 6-17-1998 by Ord. No. 18-98]
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of animals seized either
under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
[Amended 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
SHELTER
An establishment where animals are received, housed and distributed.
[Amended 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
SUFFER
Includes the failure of the owner, harborer, keeper or person
having care, custody or control of an animal to prevent the occurrence
of any act or the coming into existence of any condition or otherwise
regulated by this article, regardless of the prior knowledge thereof
by such owner, harborer, keeper or person having care, custody or
control of the animal.
[Amended 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]
[Amended 9-15-1999 by Ord. No. 28-99; 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18; 6-29-2022 by Ord. No. 22-14]
A. Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish
an animal care facility shall, in the case of a renewal of the license,
apply to the licensing authority. Applications for the creation of
new establishments shall be made to the Township Council through the
Municipal Clerk's Office.
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. All applicants
must provide a copy of the VPH1 Health Inspection Form, indicating
an inspection has been completed by the Health Department and that
the facility is in compliance with local and state rules and regulations
governing locations and sanitation at each such establishment. First-time
applicants or applicants with a change in location must provide written
approval from the Zoning Officer.
C. All licenses issued for an animal care facility 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 and Senior Services or the Division
of Health of the Township of Jefferson for failure to comply with
the rules and regulations of the State Department of Health and Senior
Services or the Township Division of Health governing the same after
the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department
of Health and Senior Services or the Division of Health of the Township.
D. Any person holding such license shall not be required
to secure individual licenses for dogs and cats owned by such licensee
and kept at such establishments. Such licenses shall not be transferable
to another owner or different premises.
E. The total number of licenses issued to animal care
facilities combined shall not exceed 10, excluding the Township of
Jefferson pound.
F. Zoning Ordinance provisions shall supersede and have
priority over the provisions of this section relating thereto.
G. The annual license fee for an animal care facility
providing accommodations for 10 or fewer animals shall be $50 and
for more than 10 animals shall be $100. No fee shall be charged for
the Township of Jefferson pound.
H. No animal kept in an animal care facility shall be
permitted off such premises except on a leash or in a crate or other
device designed to contain animals or under other safe control.
I. The Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson
or any other person appointed by the Township Council of the Township
to license dogs and cats in the municipality shall forward to the
State Department of Health and Senior Services a list of all animal
care facilities 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.
License fees collected or received under the
provisions of this article, except registration tag fees, shall be
received and forwarded to the Treasurer of the Township of Jefferson
within 30 days after collection or receipt and shall be placed in
a separate account, separate from any of the other accounts of the
municipality, and shall be used for the following purposes only:
A. For collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable
to seizure under this article; for local prevention and control of
rabies; for providing antirabies treatment under the decision of the
local Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson for any person
known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; for payment of
obligations established in accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:19-5; 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 at the end of each
fiscal year thereafter there shall be transferred from such special
account to the general funds of the municipality any amount then in
such account which is in excess of the total amount paid into said
special account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
B. The per annum registration tag fee of $0.50 for each
dog shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the Division
of Health of the Township of Jefferson, or other official designated
to license dogs, to the State Department of Health and Senior Services.
[Amended 7-17-1991 by Ord. No. 17-91; 9-6-1995 by Ord. No.
18-95; 12-5-2001 by Ord. No. 35-01]
A. The Animal Control Officer shall take into custody
and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter
destroyed or offered for adoption 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 agents have
reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2) Any dog off the premises of the owner or 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.
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, or if the owner or the person keeping
or harboring the dog is known, the Animal Control Officer shall forthwith
serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the
owner or the person keeping or harboring the dog, if known, a notice
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.
C. A notice under this section may be served either by
delivering it to the person on whom it is 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 seven days after seizure when notice has not been
and cannot be given as above set forth and if the owner or the person
keeping or harboring the dog has not claimed said dog and paid expenses
incurred by reason of its detention, including a detention fee of
$25 per day, a maintenance fee of $4 per day, together with a pickup
fee of $25, and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of the seizure
and the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not produced
a license and registration tag for the dog, the Animal Control Officer
may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain
as possible and consistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:22-19
or offered for adoption.
[Amended 5-18-2022 by Ord. No. 22-13]
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered
to perform any duty under this article may go upon any premises to
seize for impounding any dog or dogs, which he may lawfully seize
and impound when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such dog
or dogs, except upon the premises of the owner of the dog if the owner
is present and forbids the same.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any
dog which habitually barks, howls or cries. The habitual barking,
howling or crying of a dog or dogs in the Township of Jefferson is
hereby declared to be a disturbing noise within the meaning of N.J.S.A.
40:48-1, Subsection 8, and is further declared to be a nuisance.
It shall be unlawful for any owner, keeper or
person in whose care, custody or control a dog has been left to:
A. Keep or maintain any dog leashed or tethered in the
open upon any property within the Township without providing said
animal with adequate food, water and a place of shelter within the
radius of the tether or leash.
B. Tether or leash a dog by tying the same directly to
the neck of the animal or by connecting a leash or tether to a choke
collar.
C. Tether or leash a dog so as to permit or suffer the
animal to block or interfere with any gate, walk, path or steps when
the same constitutes the means of ingress or egress to the premises
from the public way; provided, however, that this provision shall
not prevent any person from permitting a dog to run at large upon
private premises where the same are totally enclosed by a fence of
sufficient and adequate strength and height to prevent the animal
from leaving the enclosure, and provided further that there is posted
conspicuously at all entrances to the premises a sign with lettering
at least two inches and not more than three inches in height and at
least 1 1/2 inches and not more than three inches in width, said
sign being 12 inches in height and width, stating that there is a
dog running at large upon said premises.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog
shall permit or suffer it to do any injury to any person or to do
any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.
[Amended 2-1-2006 by Ord. No. 1-06]
All pet owners and keepers are required to immediately
and properly dispose of their pet’s solid waste deposit on any
property, public or private, not owned or possessed by that person.
Proper disposal shall mean the 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.