[Adopted 3-19-1990 by Ord. No. 4-1990 (Ch.
32 of the 1975 Code); amended in its entirety 10-20-2015 by Ord. No. 2014-9[1]]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A dog or cat.
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this article.
Any member of the domestic feline species, male, female or
altered.
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
The Borough Clerk is charged with administering the issuance
and/or revocation of cat permits and licenses.
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, includes 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.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
A.
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall
own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within
the Borough unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions
of this section do not apply to cats held in a cattery or to 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.
B.
Vaccination. All cats shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the latest Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization, published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as provided for in Subsection D.
C.
Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination
shall be issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended
by the state.
D.
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements
of such vaccination for a specified period of time by the Local Board
of Health upon presentation of a veterinarian's certificate stating
that, because of an infirmity or other physical condition or regimen
of therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
A.
Cats must have a license number displayed. Any person who shall own,
keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall annually apply for and
procure from the Borough Clerk a license and official registration
tag with license number or a registration sleeve for each cat so owned,
kept or harbored and shall place on 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, break-away or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves
are not transferable.
B.
Time for applying for license. The owner of any newly acquired cat
of licensing age or of any cat which attains licensing age shall make
application for a license tag or sleeve for such cat within 10 days
after such acquisition or age attainment. The requirement will not
apply to a nonresident keeping a cat within the Borough for no longer
than 90 days.
C.
Cats brought into the Borough.
(1)
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough
any cat licensed in another state for the current year and bearing
a registration tag or sleeve and who shall keep the same or permit
the same to be kept within the Borough for a period of more than 90
days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or
sleeve for each such cat.
(2)
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought in the Borough
any unlicensed cat in another state for the current year and bearing
a registration tag or sleeve and who will keep the same or permit
the same to be kept within the Borough for a period of more than 90
days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or
sleeve for each such cat.
D.
Application contents; preservation of information. The application
shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the cat for
which a license and registration are sought and whether it is of a
longhaired or shorthaired variety; also the name, street and post
office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor
such cat. The information on said application and the registration
number issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three
years by the Borough Clerk.
E.
License forms and tags. License forms and official tags or sleeves
shall be furnished by the Borough and shall be numbered serially,
shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the Borough of Pemberton.
F.
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certification of exemption;
requirement for license. The Borough Clerk shall not grant any license
and official registration tag or sleeve for any cat unless the owner
thereof provides evidence that the cat 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 Agriculture
and the United States Department of Human Services or has been certified
exempt. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed
veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do
the same.
G.
License fee schedule. The license fees shall be the same as the license
fee schedule for dogs.
H.
Renewals; expiration date of license.
(1)
The fee for renewal of a license and registration tag or sleeve shall
be the same as for the original, and said license, registration tag
or sleeve and renewal thereof shall expire on January 31 of the following
year.
(2)
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required
in the licensing year for any cat in the Borough. Any valid New Jersey
license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be
accepted as evidence of compliance.
I.
Loss of license. 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 $15 for unneutered cats
and $12 for neutered cats.
J.
Proof of licensing. 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.
K.
Interfering with persons, performing duties, under this article.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized
or empowered to perform any duty under this article.
L.
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other moneys collected
or received under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded
to the Treasurer and shall be placed in a special account separate
from any of the other accounts and shall be used for the following
purposes only; collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to
seizure, for local prevention and control of rabies, providing antirabies
treatment under the direction of the Local Board of Health for any
person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies and for administering
the provisions of this article. 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 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 next preceding.
Any person who owns, keeps or harbors any cat at any place within
the Borough or who permits any cat to enter the corporate limits of
the Borough, shall exercise sufficient and proper care of and control
over such animal at all times so as to prevent the cat from habitually
trespassing upon or damaging either private or public property, and
to prevent the cat from annoying, biting, scratching or harming any
other person.
Any person who is found to have violated any provision of this chapter for which a penalty is not expressly stated or otherwise set by statute shall be subject to the general penalty provision of Code § 1-1.