The words hereinafter defined shall have the
meanings herein indicated for the purposes of this article as follows:
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this article.
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species, male, female or
altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
CATTERY
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The Clerk of the Borough of Palmyra or any designated representative
thereof charged with administering the issuance and/or revocation
of permits and licenses under the provisions of this article.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, shall include
every person having a right of property or custody in such cat and
every person who has such cat in his/her keeping or who harbors or
maintains a cat or knowingly permits a cat to remain on or about any
premises occupied by that person.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain
any cat over seven months of age within the Borough of Palmyra unless
such a cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions of this section
do not apply to cats held in a cattery or those held by a state or
federal licensed research facility or a veterinary establishment where
cats are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other
treatments, or licensed animal shelters, pounds, kennels or pet shops.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat
of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the Clerk
of the municipality or other official designated by the governing
body thereof to license cats in the municipality in which he/she resides
a license and official registration tag with license number or a registration
sleeve for each cat so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon
such cat a collar or other device with the license number securely
fastened or displayed thereto. Acceptable methods of displaying the
license number shall include, but are not limited to, breakaway or
elastic collars. License tags or sleeves are not transferable.
License forms and official tags or sleeves shall
be furnished by the municipality and shall be numbered serially and
shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
No Municipal Clerk or other official designated by the governing body of any municipality to license cats therein shall grant any such license and official registration tag or sleeve for any cat unless the owner thereof provides evidence that the cat to be licensed and registered has been inoculated with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Human Services or has been certified exempt as provided by §
74-32 of this article. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
A license shall be issued after payment of a
fee of $3 for each cat. Persons who fail to obtain a license as required
within the time period specified in this article will be subject to
a delinquent fee of $3.
If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced
or lost, the Borough Clerk may issue a duplicate license and/or registration
sleeve for that particular cat at a fee of $1.
Proof of licensing shall be produced by any
person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a cat upon the request
of any health official, police officer, animal control officer or
other authorized person.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded to the Treasurer
of the Borough of Palmyra and shall be placed in a special account
separate from any of the other accounts of the municipality and shall
be used for the following purposes only: collecting, keeping and disposing
of cats liable to seizure; local prevention and control of rabies;
providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction of the local Board
of Health for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to
rabies; and administering the provisions of this article.
There shall be a limitation of not more than
three cats per household.
Except as otherwise provided in this article,
any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this
article shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $25 nor more
than $500 for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name of
the local Board of Health or by and in the name of the municipality.