[Adopted 12-4-1935 by Ord. No. 84]
[Amended 1-26-1971 by Ord. No. 559]
No person, firm or corporation shall own, keep
or harbor a dog, male or female, within the Borough of Middlesex,
without first having obtained from the Borough Clerk a license therefor,
which license shall be granted upon application to such Borough Clerk
upon forms to be supplied by said Borough Clerk and shall be effective
from the 31st day of January of each year, for the term of one year.
A metal tag containing the number of the license issued to the owner
of such dog shall be given by the Borough Clerk and shall be attached,
by the owner, to a collar with which all dogs shall be furnished and
which at all times shall be kept upon such dog.
[Amended 12-28-1955 by Ord. No. 244; 8-8-1967 by Ord. No. 469; 1-26-1971 by Ord. No. 559; 12-23-1975 by Ord. No. 698; 12-30-1980 by Ord. No.
883; 10-13-1981 by Ord. No. 913; 11-22-1983 by Ord. No. 986; 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 1720; 10-12-2010 by Ord. No.
1784]
For the granting of such license, there shall
be paid to the Borough Clerk by the applicant a license fee of $8.80,
plus state-imposed fees of $1.20, or a total of $10, for each dog
for the year in which such license is issued, which license fee shall
be nonrefundable. For unspayed/unneutered dogs of reproductive age,
an additional state fee of $3 shall be paid for each license. The
license fee shall be turned over to the Borough Treasurer by said
Borough Clerk and shall by the Treasurer be accounted for in the same
manner as other revenues.
[Added 12-13-1977 by Ord. No. 773; amended 12-30-1980 by Ord. No. 883; 12-27-1990 by Ord. No. 1190; 11-15-1994 by Ord. No. 1328; 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 1720]
Owners of dogs who fail to license their dog
and who are identified as having an unlicensed dog or dogs at the
time of the annual survey or who are identified as such because of
a report of an animal bite or because of a complaint or for any other
reason shall pay a late fee charge of $10, effective as of March 1.
If there are special hardship considerations based on financial, age
or health factors that can be documented, the licensing official may
grant a written waiver of the fee, specifying the reason for said
waiver.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall own,
keep or harbor a dog without applying for a license for such dog within
10 days from the date such dog came into his, her or its possession
or without delivering such dog within such period to the police or
to such person as the Mayor and Council may designate as poundkeeper
shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding
$20 for each dog so owned, kept or harbored without a license.
No person, firm or corporation shall suffer
or permit any dog to run at large upon the public streets or in any
public park or in any public building or in any other public place
within the Borough of Middlesex, nor shall any dog be permitted upon
the public streets or in any of the public places within the Borough
of Middlesex unless such dog is accompanied by the owner or some other
person and is securely controlled by an adequate leash.
[Amended 12-13-1977 by Ord. No. 773]
Any dog found running at large upon the public
streets or in any other public place in the Borough of Middlesex shall
be impounded and, if not redeemed within seven days after such impounding,
shall be destroyed. The owner desiring to redeem a dog impounded,
as herein provided, shall pay to the poundkeeper the sum of $7.
[Amended 8-8-1967 by Ord. No. 469]
The Mayor and Council shall fix the compensation
of the poundkeeper. The poundkeeper shall perform the duties hereinabove
mentioned under the direct supervision and control of the Police Department.
He shall provide a place within which he can conveniently dispose
and safely, securely and adequately confine such dogs as he is by
order of the Police Department directed to capture and impound. He
shall release to the owners thereof such dogs impounded as are entitled
to be released under the terms and provisions of this article and
upon receiving from such owners the sums of money hereinabove specified.
All moneys received by him for the release of dogs shall be transferred
by him to the Borough Treasurer, with a written report of the source
from which such moneys were received.
No person, firm or corporation shall keep within
the limits of the Borough of Middlesex any vicious dog or dogs which
shall have on more than one occasion attacked and bitten or attempted
to bite any human being or any animal. Any vicious dog, hereinbefore
defined, found within the limits of the Borough of Middlesex may be
killed by any police officer or by any dogcatcher or poundkeeper.
[Amended 8-8-1967 by Ord. No. 469]
No person shall keep within the limits of the
Borough of Middlesex any dog causing a nuisance by howling or barking
and disturbing the peace and quiet of the neighborhood in which it
shall be kept.
[Added 2-8-1966 by Ord. No. 426; amended 10-23-1984 by Ord. No. 1013]
A. No person owning or in charge of any dog shall cause
or allow such dog to soil, defile, defecate on or commit any nuisance
on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, bypath, play area,
park or any place where people congregate or walk or upon any public
property whatsoever or upon any private property, without the permission
of the owner of said property.
B. Any person owning or in charge of any dog which soils,
defiles, defecates on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, bypath, play
area, park or any place where people congregate or walk or upon any
public property whatsoever or upon any private property, without the
permission of the owner of said property, shall immediately remove
all feces deposited by any such dog in a sanitary manner.
C. The feces removed from the aforementioned designated
areas shall be disposed of by the person owning or in charge of any
such dog in a sealed nonabsorbent, leakproof container.
D. The provisions of this section shall not apply to
blind persons who use dogs as guides.
E. Any person who violates the provisions of this section
shall be subject to a fine of not more than $50.
The fee for obtaining a license, known as a
"kennel license," shall be $10, and such license shall only be issued
to a person dealing in, boarding or caring for dogs and shall cover
all dogs, not exceeding 10 in number, in his or her custody.
Any person who shall molest or obstruct the
poundkeeper, dogcatcher or police officers in carrying out or attempting
to carry out the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction,
be subject to the penalties hereinafter provided for the violation
of the provisions of this article.
[Amended 7-12-1977 by Ord. No. 766; 11-15-1994 by Ord. No. 1328]
Any person who violates or refuses to comply
with this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a
fine not exceeding $5 per month per violation. If the violation involves
a bite or injury of any type which requires testing of the animal
for any purpose, the fine will be a fine not exceeding $300 per violation.