[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.
[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.
Any person holding such license shall not be
required to secure individual licenses for dogs owned by such licensee
and kept at such establishments. Such licenses shall not be transferable
to another owner or different premises.
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.
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or
pound shall be permitted off such premises except on leash or in a
crate or other safe control.
[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.
[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.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
[Added 12-7-1971 by Ord. No. 1747; amended 5-4-2021 by Ord. No. 3471]
No dog or other animal taken into custody and detained or impounded
shall be sold or otherwise made available for the purpose of experimentation.
[Added 5-4-2021 by Ord.
No. 3471]
No person shall own, keep or harbor in excess of five dogs or
cats combined, of licensing age at any time.
[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.