[Adopted 3-3-1942 by Ord. No. 961 (Ch. 97 of the 1978 Code)]
For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply:
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.
KENNEL
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a pet shop.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, includes every person having a right of property in such dog and every person who has such dog in his keeping.
PET SHOP
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein more than five dogs or cats are owned, cared for, for sale are kept or displayed.
[Amended 5-4-2021 by Ord. No. 3471]
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of dogs seized either under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
SHELTER
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed without charge.
VICIOUS DOG
Any dog which has been declared vicious and menacing by the health or police authorities by written notice sent to the owner of said dog.
[Amended 12-20-1949 by Ord. No. 1195; 5-3-2005 by Ord. No. 2878]
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of April of each year, apply for and procure from the Township Clerk of the Township of Nutley a license and official metal registration tag for each such dog so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or of any dog which attains licensing age shall make application for license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment.
[Amended 8-19-1958 by Ord. No. 1460; 12-19-1967 by Ord. No. 1674; 8-7-1979 by Ord. No. 1981; 10-6-1981 by Ord. No. 2062; 10-3-1989 by Ord. No. 2294; 12-8-2004 by Ord. No. 2864]
A. 
The fee for a license issued in a calendar year shall be $15 for each neutered dog and $18 for each unneutered dog. The registration tags shall expire on the last day of April of each year. Persons who fail to obtain a license as required within the time period specified in this section will be subject to a delinquent fee of $10. The fee for a duplicate dog license tag shall be $5. Fees for senior citizens age 65 and over shall be $12 for each neutered dog and $15 for each unneutered dog.
[Amended 3-7-2006 by Ord. No. 2941; 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 3186]
B. 
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other money collected or received under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the municipality and shall be placed in a special account separate from any other accounts of the municipality and shall be user to administer the provisions of this article.
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which license and registration are sought, and whether it is of a long- or short-haired variety, and the name, street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "Seeing Eye" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
No person except an officer in the performance of his duties shall remove a registration tag from the collar of any dog without the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration tag to a dog for which it is not issued.
[Added 1-8-1957 by Ord. No. 1412; amended 2-16-1971 by Ord. No. 1735]
It shall be unlawful for any dog, whether licensed or not, to run at large within the Township of Nutley. A dog shall be deemed to be running at large when off the premises of its owner or of the person keeping or harboring such dog and not on a leash, tether, chain, rope or the like, the overall length of which, including the hand grip, shall not exceed six feet, held by its owner or other person able to control such dog.
[Added 2-16-1971 by Ord. No. 1735]
Any dog which has attacked any human being by biting or has caused any person to be fearful for his or her safety by chasing, worrying, snapping or otherwise frightening said person, or which has habitually attacked other dogs or animals, may be declared vicious and menacing by the local health or police authorities by written notice sent to the owner of said dog. No person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog which has been declared vicious by the local health or police authorities shall permit such dog to be upon a public street or highway or upon any premises other than those of the person owning such dog or those of a person who has given permission to said owner to keep or harbor such dog on his premises, unless such dog wears a muzzle securely fastened about its mouth in such a manner that it cannot bite and is on a leash, tether, chain, rope or the like, the overall length of which, including the hand grip, shall not exceed six feet, held by its owner or other person able to control such dog; and while on the premises of the owner, such dog shall not be allowed to come in contact with any person who is not a member of the immediate household.
[Added 2-16-1971 by Ord. No. 1735]
No person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog shall cause, suffer 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. The restriction in this section shall not apply to that portion of the street lying between the curblines, which shall be used to curb such dog under the following conditions:
A. 
The person who so curbs such dog shall immediately remove all feces deposited by such dog by any sanitary method approved by the local health authority.
B. 
The feces removed from the aforementioned designated area shall be disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog curbed in accordance with the provisions of this article, in a sanitary manner approved by the local health authority.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Art. IV, Proper Disposal of Pet Waste, of this chapter.
[Amended 12-20-1949 by Ord. No. 1195; 5-4-2021 by Ord. No. 3471]
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel, a pet shop, a shelter or a pound within the Township of Nutley shall apply to the Township Clerk of the Township of Nutley for a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment. The application therefor 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, and shall be accompanied by the written approval of local health and municipal authorities showing compliance with the local and state rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation at such establishment. Kennels, pet shops, shelter or pounds are prohibited from locating or operating out of private residences or residential homes and are prohibited in all residential zones.
All licenses issued for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall state the purpose for which the establishment is maintained, and all such licenses shall expire on the last day of January of each year and shall be subject to revocation by the municipality on recommendations of the State Department of Health and Senior Services or the local Department of Health for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department or local Department governing the same, after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either said State Department or the local Department.
The annual license fee for a kennel providing accommodations for 10 or less dogs shall be $10, and for more than 10 dogs, $25. The annual license fee for a pet shop shall be $10. No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound.
[Amended 3-31-1942 by Ord. No. 965; 5-3-2005 by Ord. No. 2878]
The Chief of Police of the Township of Nutley shall promptly after May 1 of each year cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the Township of Nutley, in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 of Chapter 151 of the Public Laws of 1941.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.15.
[Amended 3-31-1942 by Ord. No. 965]
A. 
The Chief of Police of the Township of Nutley, in the absence of any person hired by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Nutley for the purpose, and if and when such person is hired by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Nutley, then the person so hired for the purpose, or if the position of Dog Warden is created, then the person appointed to that position, shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter destroyed or disposed of 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 agent or agents have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on his collar or harness.
(3) 
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
(4) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog, which is not securely and completely muzzled or on leash in the hands of a person able to control said dog.
(5) 
Any vicious dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog, which is not muzzled and on leash in the hands of a person able to control 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 the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog is known, the Chief of Police of the Township of Nutley or such person hired by the Board of Commissioners for the purpose, or Dog Warden if appointed, shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar, or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog, if known, a notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be disposed of 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 to be 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 for seven days after seizure, when no notice has been given as above set forth, and the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not claimed said dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance not exceeding $0.50 per day, and if the dog be unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not produced a license and registration tag for said dog, the aforesaid Chief of Police of the Township of Nutley, or such person hired by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Nutley, or Dog Warden if appointed, may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article is hereby authorized to 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 said owner is present and forbids the same.
[Amended 3-31-1942 by Ord. No. 965; 1-8-1957 by Ord. No. 1412; 2-16-1971 by Ord. No. 1735; 12-7-1971 by Ord. No. 1747; 5-15-1979 by Ord. No. 1973; 5-4-2021 by Ord. No. 3471]
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with any provisions of this article or the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Health shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $500 per day for each dog or cat over the limit, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or both.
[Added 2-16-1971 by Ord. No. 1735; amended 5-4-2021 by Ord. No. 3471]
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by the local Police Department and the Department of Health.