For the purpose of this chapter, the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings
stated herein unless their use in the text of this chapter clearly
demonstrates a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the context,
words used in the present tense include the future, words used in
the plural number include the singular number, and words used in the
singular number include the plural number, the word "shall" is always
mandatory and not merely directory.
ANIMAL
Any dog or cat, for the purpose of this chapter.
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
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.
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species, or any hybrid,
male, female or altered. "Cat" is a member of the animal species Felis
catus.
CATTERY
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling cats or breeding cats for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop or veterinarian's office, and shall include any establishment
wherein there is carried on the business or practice of boarding,
grooming, selling or breeding cats or where cats are kept or maintained
for any commercial purpose whatever, except pet shops as herein mentioned,
or where four or more cats of licensing age are kept or maintained
for any reason in any one place or establishment.
DEPARTMENT
The New Jersey State Department of Health.
DOG
Any member of the domestic canine species, or any hybrid,
male, female or altered. "Dog" is a member of the animal species Canis
lupus familiaris.
DOMESTIC ANIMAL
Any cat, dog, livestock other than poultry, or any mammal within the borders of the Township of Mansfield which is owned, kept or harbored by a resident of the Township of Mansfield as a pet or for nonagricultural purposes. (For further definitions of "cat," "dog" and "livestock," see §
65-7 of the Township Code.)
ENABLING STATUTE
Refers to N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq. and all amendments thereof
and the supplements thereto.
FEED
To give, place, expose, deposit, distribute or scatter any
edible material with the intention of feeding, attracting or enticing
a cat or dog.
IMMEDIATE
The pet solid waste is removed at once, without delay.
KENNEL
Any commercial establishment, practice or business wherein
or whereon the keeping of more than four small animals that are more
than six months old for housing, grooming, breeding, training, sale
or boarding is carried on, except a pet shop or veterinarian's office,
and shall include any establishment wherein there is carried on the
business or practice of housing, boarding, grooming, training, selling
or breeding dogs or where dogs are kept or maintained for any commercial
purpose whatever, except pet shops as herein mentioned, or where four
or more dogs of licensing age are kept or maintained for any reason
in any one place or establishment. Such commercial kennels shall be
permitted only in the C-2 Highway Commercial District.
LEASHED
Restrained by a leash no greater than six feet in length,
attached to a collar or harness of sufficient strength to restrain
the dog or cat and which shall be held by a person having the ability
to control the animal at hand.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The agency or department of the Township of Mansfield or
any designated representative thereof charged with administering the
issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions
of this chapter.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER/KEEPER
When applied to the ownership of a domestic animal, it shall
include every person having a right of property (or custody) in such
domestic animal and every person who has such domestic animal in his/her
keeping, or who harbors, possesses, houses or maintains an animal
or knowingly permits an animal to remain on or about any premises
occupied by that person, or anyone who takes a dog or cat out into
the public streets, sidewalks or public ways. Also, a person shall
be deemed to have an animal in his keeping or under his control whenever
the ownership or custody of such animal is an unemancipated infant
or other member of his/her household.
OWNER'S PREMISES
Includes the building or plot of land on which said building
stands in which the owner of an animal has a place of abode or place
of business in the Township.
PERSON
A natural person, individual, company, association, corporation,
firm, partnership, trust or other legal entity organization or institution
commonly recognized by the law as a unit; or political subdivision
of this state subject to municipal jurisdiction.
PET
A domesticated animal, either a cat or dog (other than a
disability assistance animal) kept for amusement or companionship.
PET OF LICENSING AGE
Any pet which has obtained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
PET SHOP
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein dogs and cats for sale are kept or displayed.
PET SOLID WASTE
Waste matter expelled from the bowels of the pet; excrement.
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS DOG
Any dog or dog hybrid declared potentially dangerous by a
municipal court pursuant to P.L. 1989, c. 307 (N.J.S.A. 4:19-23).
POUND
Any establishment for the confinement of dogs or cats seized
under the provisions of this chapter or otherwise.
PROPER DISPOSAL
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.
PROPERTY
A lot, parcel, or tract of land together with the building
and structures located thereon.
SHELTER
Any establishment where dogs and cats are received, kept
or housed without charge.
STRAY ANIMAL
A dog or cat having no known owner or custodian or no known
place of care and shelter.
VICIOUS DOG OR CAT
Any dog, cat, or hybrid of either which has attacked or bitten
or attempted to attack or bite without provocation any human being
or other dog or cat or other domestic animal; or which has caused
any human being engaged in a lawful activity or occupancy to be fearful
for his own safety by chasing or snapping at such person without provocation;
or unreasonably impedes, interferes with, or disrupts pedestrian traffic
on any public sidewalk or area, either while upon or off the premises
occupied by the person owning, keeping, harboring or having the custody
or possession of the attacking animal by barking, growling, or other
display of aggressive behavior towards a human being, other dog or
cat, or any other domestic animal, or which destroys property; as
set forth in N.J.S.A. 4:19-18; or any dog or dog hybrid declared vicious
by a municipal court pursuant to P.L. 1989, c. 307 (N.J.S.A. 4:19-22).
Every person who harbors, possesses, feeds or
maintains any cat or dog for more than 10 days shall be deemed, for
the purposes of this chapter, to be the owner of said animal so harbored,
possessed, fed or maintained.
Except as expressly provided otherwise herein,
no individual other than catteries, kennels, pet shops, shelters or
pounds shall own, keep, maintain or harbor at any one time a combination
of more than four cats and/or dogs of licensing age in the Township
of Mansfield. All persons having harbored or controlled more than
the maximum number of cats and dogs permitted under this provision,
on or before November 13, 2002 (Ord. 2002-29), shall be permitted
to keep said animals, with license, but these cats and dogs, after
death, disposal or other attrition, shall not be replaced without
compliance with all the provisions of this chapter. To this extent,
any individual previously exempt under this amendment other than a
kennel, cattery, pet shop, shelter or pound will not be issued a license
and registration tag for any number of pets in excess of four pets
when the same excess number of licenses is set to renew on an annual
basis.
The owner of any newly acquired pet of licensing
age or of any pet which attains licensing age shall make applications
for and procure a license and registration tag for such dog within
10 days after acquisition or age attainment. A "pet of licensing age"
shall be any pet which has attained the age of six months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth, whichever is sooner. There shall
be no adjustment of the license or registration fee for licenses or
registration tags issued and valid for a fractional portion of the
license year.
License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this chapter shall be forwarded to the Treasurer
of the Township of Mansfield and shall be placed in a special account
separate from any of the other accounts of the Township and shall
be used for the following purposes only: for the collecting, keeping
and disposing of pets liable to seizure, for local prevention and
control of rabies, for providing anti-rabies treatments under the
direction of the Local Board of Health for any person known or suspected
to have been exposed to rabies, and for administrating the provisions
of this chapter. Any unexpected balance remaining in such special
account shall be retained until the end of the third fiscal year following
and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section.
At the end of said 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 Township 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 preceding.
[Amended 9-23-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-15]
A. The annual
license fee for catteries and kennels, where provided by the Township
Zoning Ordinance, shall be as follows:
(1) For
a cattery or kennel providing accommodations for 10 or fewer animals:
$10.
(2) For
a cattery or kennel providing accommodations for more than 10 animals:
$25.
B. The annual
license fee for a pet shop, shelter or pound shall be $25.
Commencing on April 2, 2004, and biannually
thereafter, a canvas shall be made of all pets owned, kept or harbored
in the Township in accordance with Section 15 of Chapter 151 of the
Laws of 1941, as amended, N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1 et seq.
It shall be the duty of the members of the Police
Department and the Animal Control Officer appointed by the Township
Committee to take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into
custody and impounded at a suitable place determined by the Township
any dog or cat; and said dog or cat may be thereafter destroyed or
disposed of as provided for in this chapter. The animal's owner will
be responsible for any and all charges associated with services provided
by the Animal Control Officer.
A. Any dog or cat off the premises of the person owning,
keeping, possessing or harboring said animal which such officials
or their agents have reason to believe is a stray dog or cat.
B. Any dog or cat off the premises of the person owning,
keeping, possessing or harboring said animal without a current registration
tag on its collar or harness.
C. Any female dog or cat in season off the premises of
the person owning, keeping, possessing or harboring said animal.
D. Any dog or cat, whether licensed or not, that is found
running at large upon any public street or other public place at any
time or that shall be found at any time doing any of the other things
prohibited in this chapter and which the person owning, keeping, possessing
or harboring said animal is required by this chapter to prevent.
E. Any dog or cat or other animal which is suspected
to be rabid.
If any pet 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 the owner or the person owning
or the person keeping or harboring said dog or cat is known, the Chief
of Police or certified Animal Control Officer or any person authorized
by him in that behalf shall forthwith serve on the person whose address
is given on the collar or harness or on the owner or person keeping
or harboring said animal, if known, a notice, in writing, stating
that the animal 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. 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 such person's usual or last-known place of abode or at the address
shown on the collar or harness or by forwarding it, by mail, in a
prepaid letter addressed to such person at his usual or last place
of abode or to the address shown on the collar or harness.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone performing any duty which he is authorized or empowered
to perform under this chapter.
Any pet which bites a person shall be quarantined
for 10 days if ordered to do so by a member of the Mansfield Township
Police Department. During quarantine, the animal shall be securely
confined and kept from contact with any other animal whether or not
domesticated. The quarantine shall be at the owner's expense and must
occur in a veterinary hospital. In addition, the owner shall be liable
for any and all charges incurred by the Animal Control Officer, at
the prevailing rate, payable directly to the Animal Control Officer.
Management of pets known or suspected to have
been bitten by a known or suspected rabid animal of unknown origin
shall be quarantined in accordance with Title 26 of the New Jersey
Statutes Annotated. The owner of a pet evidencing a change in disposition
or illness suggesting it may be rabid may be required to have such
pet examined by an approved veterinarian. Any cost incurred in quarantining
such cat or veterinary service examination shall be paid for by the
owner or harborer of such pet or pets.
Every person owning, keeping or harboring any
pet in this Township shall:
A. Prevent such dog or cat from running at large upon
any public street or other public place at any time.
B. Prevent such dog or cat from being on any public street
or other public place at any time unless such pet is accompanied by
a person over the age of 12 years and is securely confined and controlled
by an adequate leash not more than six feet in length.
C. Prevent such dog or cat from running at large upon
the lands of any person other than the person owning, keeping or harboring
such pet, without the consent of the owner of such lands.
D. Prevent such dog or cat from injuring or damaging
any vegetable garden, flower garden, lawn, plant, trees, shrubbery,
grounds or other property of any person other than the person owning,
keeping or harboring such pet.
E. Prevent such dog or cat from worrying, wounding or
killing any other pet or domestic animal.
F. Prevent such dog or cat, if it is a female and in
season, from being off the grounds or property of the person owning,
keeping or harboring such pet.
G. Prevent such dog or cat from soiling, defiling, defecating
on or committing any nuisance upon any property, public, or private,
not owned or possessed by that person within the Township of Mansfield;
and in the event such dog or cat shall, through inadvertence or otherwise,
soil, defile, defecate or commit any nuisance upon said property,
the person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of such dog or
cat shall immediately remove all feces deposited by said dog or cat
in a sanitary manner by shovel, container, disposal bag, etc., or
any other method approved by the Township's Board of Health, and said
feces and droppings shall be removed immediately by said person from
the aforesaid designated areas and disposed of by said person in a
sanitary manner. 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.
Any animal which is or may become an annoyance,
or interferes with the general well-being of the inhabitants of the
Township or other animals, or habitually trespasses upon or damages
either private or public property, or annoys, bites, scratches or
harms a human being or an animal whether or not domesticated, may
be considered a public nuisance and may be captured and impounded
by the Animal Control Officer at the discretion of a police official,
with the owner assuming liability for any and all charges incurred
by the Animal Control Officer, at the prevailing rate, payable directly
to the Animal Control Officer.
Any person who shall abandon, leave uncared
for or set loose with the intention of avoiding the responsibility
for the custody and care of any dog, cat or other domestic animal
upon the streets, highways, alleys or other public places in the Township
or upon lands and premises owned or occupied by any person other than
the owner or person in possession of such dog, cat or other domestic
animal shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter. It shall also
be unlawful for any person to abandon or leave without proper care
or permit to become a stray any dog, cat or other domestic animal
even though it be left abandoned upon a lot and premises owned or
occupied by the person in possession of such dog, cat or other domestic
animal.
The quarters where pets are kept shall be clean
and sanitary and such as not to create a health hazard nor disturbance
by reason of noise, odor or other causes.
Should any part or parts of this chapter be
adjudged invalid, such adjudication shall not affect the validity
of this chapter as a whole but shall apply only to the part or parts
which are subject of the adjudication and the remainder of this chapter
shall remain valid and effective.
Unless otherwise specifically provided for in
this chapter, any person who violates any of the provisions of this
chapter or who does any act or thing herein prohibited or neglects,
fails or refuses to do any act or thing herein required to be done
shall, upon conviction thereof before the Municipal Judge or other
judicial officer authorized to hear and determine the matter, be subject
to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 for each offense,
as shall be imposed by the Municipal Judge or other judicial officer
in his or her discretion. Any person who refuses or neglects to pay
forthwith the fine imposed upon him or her, together with costs and
charges incident thereto, shall be committed to the county jail for
a period of not more than 10 days for a first conviction and, in the
case of a second or subsequent convictions or of continuing violations,
for a period not to exceed 30 days, and the Municipal Judge may impose
a period of community service in such instance not exceeding 30 days.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent
herewith are hereby repealed. This chapter shall take effect immediately
upon its proper publication and adoption and as provided by law.