[Adopted 9-7-1976 by Ord. No. 13:5-76]
A. 
The words hereafter defined shall have the meaning herein indicated for the purpose of this article as follows:
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 of dogs for sale is carried on, except a pet shop.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog shall mean and include every person having a right of property in such dog.
[Amended 6-2-1997]
PERSON
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association of persons.
PET SHOP
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
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.
[Amended 6-2-1997]
SUFFER
Includes the failure of the owner or harborer of a dog or dogs to prevent the occurrence of any act or the coming into existence of any condition prescribed or otherwise regulated by this article, regardless of the prior knowledge thereof by such owner or harborer.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Chester in the County of Morris.
B. 
Word usage.
(1) 
The words "and" and "or" may be used interchangeably, and either of the two may be applicable, whichever is more conducive towards the effectuation of this article.
(2) 
Personal pronouns shall mean either singular or the plural, whichever is applicable and conducive for the effectuating of this article.
(3) 
The masculine, feminine or the neuter gender shall be implied, whichever is appropriate and conducive for the effectuating of this article.
A. 
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of January, each year, apply for and procure from the Dog License Clerk of the Township 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.
B. 
Any person licensing a dog attaining the age of seven months or older must present to the Dog Licensing Clerk proof of rabies vaccination. The Township of Chester's local prevention and control of rabies is under the direction of the Township Board of Health.
[Amended 3-20-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
A. 
The person applying for the license and registration tag for each dog that has been spayed or neutered shall pay a fee of $11 for each dog ($9.80 Chester Township license fee, $1 state registration fee and $0.20 state pilot clinic fee). The person applying for the license and registration for a dog which has not been spayed or neutered shall pay a fee of $14 for each dog ($9.80 Chester Township license fee, $1 state registration fee, $0.20 state pilot clinic fee and a state animal population control fee of $3). Each annual renewal fee for the license and the registration tag shall be the same as the original fee. Each license registration tag and renewal shall expire on January 31 of each year.
[Amended 3-18-1980 by Ord. No. 13:5A-80; 11-15-1982 by Ord. No. 13:5B-82; 8-17-1993 by Ord. No. 13:5C-93; 11-18-2003; 12-7-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-19]
B. 
After the last day of February of each year, an additional fee of $2 per month will be charged for all delinquent licenses.
C. 
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "Seeing Eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons and commonly known as "service dogs" or dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly known as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of such dogs shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
[Amended 6-2-1997]
A. 
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or 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, or dog attaining the age of seven months.
B. 
The application shall state:
(1) 
The breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which license and registration are sought.
(2) 
Whether it is a long- or short-haired variety.
(3) 
The name, street and post-office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog.
C. 
The information on said application and the registration number issued for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Dog License Clerk of the Township. In addition, he/she shall forward similar information to the State Department of Health, each month, on forms furnished by the said Department. Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of the application.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township any dog, licensed in another state for the current year, bearing a registration tag, and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township for a period of more than 90 days, shall immediately apply for a license and registration for each dog, unless such dog shall be licensed under § 62-9 of this article.
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 was not issued.
A. 
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall, in the case of a renewal of the license, apply to the Dog License Clerk. Applications for the creation of new establishments shall be made to the Township Council.
B. 
The application shall describe the premises where the establishment is located or is proposed to be located, the purpose or purposes for which it is to be maintained and shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Animal Control Officer of the Township showing compliance with the local and state rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation of such establishments and written approval from the Zoning Officer.
C. 
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 June of each year and be subject to revocation by the Township Council on recommendations of the State Department of Health or of the Township for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department of Health or of the Township governing the same after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health or the Township. 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 a different premises.
[Amended 6-2-1997]
D. 
Zoning ordinance provisions relating to kennels shall supersede and have priority over the provisions of this section relating thereto.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 113, Land Use, § 113-329.
E. 
The annual license fee for a kennel providing accommodations for 10 or fewer 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 6-2-1997]
F. 
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be permitted off such premises, except on a leash or in a crate or other safe control.
[Amended 6-2-1997; 3-20-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
The Animal Control Officer of the Township shall promptly, after September 1, 2007, and biennially thereafter, as permitted by N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.5, cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the Township and shall report to the Township and to the State Department of Health the result thereof, by setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring dogs, the number of licensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with the registration numbers of each of said dogs, the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with a complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs.
[Amended 6-2-1997; 3-20-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
The Animal Control Officer of the Township shall take any dog as set forth in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16 into custody and impound it or cause it to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter destroyed or offered for adoption as provided in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16. The Township Dog Licensing Clerk shall not allow the release of any dog from impoundment until proof of licensing is provided.
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/she 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 owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit it to run at large within the Township; provided, however. that this section shall not apply to hunting dogs while they are in the woods and fields of the Township and are under the dominion and control of the owners.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer it to be upon the public streets or in any of the public places of the Township of Chester unless such dog is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks, howls or cries. The habitual barking, howling or crying of a dog or dogs is hereby declared to be a disturbing noise and is further declared to be a nuisance.
[Amended 6-2-1997; 1-20-2004; 3-20-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
Any person who violates or fails or refuses to comply with §§ 62-4 through 62-17 of this article shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $34 nor more than $1,000, imprisonment for a period not to exceed 90 days or a period of community service not to exceed 90 days, for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name of the Township of Chester. The animal's owner or the person to whom the owner has entrusted the animal's care shall be responsible for complying with and being subject to this article.