[Adopted 12-1-1941]
A. 
Definitions. The words hereinafter defined shall have the meanings herein indicated for the purposes of this article as follows:
BOROUGH
The Borough of Dunellen in the County of Middlesex.
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 the breeding of dogs for sale is carried on, except a pet shop.
OWNER (when applied to the proprietorship of a dog)
Every person having a right of property in such dog and every person who has such dog in his keeping.
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.
B. 
Word usage.
(1) 
The words "and" and "or" may be used interchangeably, and either of the two may be applicable, which ever is more conducive towards the effectuating of this article.
(2) 
Personal pronouns shall mean either the singular or the plural, whichever is applicable and conducive towards 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.
[Amended 1-17-1972]
No person shall keep or harbor any dog within the Borough of Dunellen, County of Middlesex, without first obtaining a license therefor to be issued by the Municipal Clerk upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and no person shall keep or harbor any dog in said Borough except in compliance with the provisions of this article.
[Amended 1-17-1972; 2-6-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-03]
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of January 1972 and annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the Municipal Clerk of the Borough a license and official registration tag for each such dog so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon such dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 1-17-1972]
A. 
A license shall be issued after payment of a fee of $13 for each unneutered and $10 for each neutered dog. Persons who fail to obtain a license as required within the time period specified (month of January) will be subject to a delinquent fee of $5 per month, in addition to the regular license fee.
[Amended 12-2-1991 by Ord. No. 91-9; 4-7-2008 by Ord. No. 08-10]
B. 
Dogs used as guides for blind persons, 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.
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which the license and registration are sought, 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. The information on said application and the registration number issued for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Clerk of the Borough. In addition, he 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 applications.
A. 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough of Dunellen, County of Middlesex, any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag 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 for each such dog, unless such dog is licensed under the provisions of § 103-9 of this article.
B. 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough any unlicensed dog and who shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Borough for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog, unless such dog is licensed under the provisions of § 103-9 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, operates or proposes to establish a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall apply to the Municipal Clerk of the Borough for a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment.
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 County Health Officer showing compliance with local and state rules and regulations governing the location of and sanitation at such establishment.
C. 
All licenses issued for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall state the purpose for which the establishment is maintained. All such licenses shall expire on the last day of January of each year and shall be subject to revocation by the Mayor and Council on recommendations of the State Department of Health or County Health Officer for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department or County Health Officer governing the same, after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health or the County Health Officer.
D. 
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 to different premises.
A. 
License fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions of this article, except registration tag fees, shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Borough within 30 days after collection or receipt and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the Borough. This special account shall be used for the following purposes only: for the collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable to seizure under this article, for local prevention and control of rabies, for providing antirabic treatment under the direction of the local County Health Officer for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies, for all other purposes prescribed by the statutes of New Jersey governing the subject and for the administering of the provisions of this article. Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account shall be retained therein until the end of the third fiscal year following and may be used for any other purposes set forth in this section. At the end of the 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 of the Borough any amount then in such account which is in excess of the total amount paid into said special account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
B. 
The registration tag of $1 for each dog shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the Clerk to the State Department of Health.
[Amended 1-17-1972; 5-5-2003 by Ord. No. 03.20]
The Clerk of the Borough shall forward to the State Department of Health a list of all kennels, pet shops, shelters and pounds licensed within 30 days after the licenses therefore are issued, which list shall include the name and address of the licensee and the kind of license issued.
[Amended 4-15-1991 by Ord. No. 91-1]
The Chief of Police of the Borough shall promptly after February 1, 1942, and annually thereafter, cause a canvass to be made of all dogs and cats owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the Borough and shall report to the Clerk of the Borough, to the County Health Officer of the Borough and to the State Department of Health the result thereof, setting forth, in separate columns, the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring such dogs or cats, the number of licensed dogs and cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with the registration numbers of each said dogs and cats, and the number of unlicensed dogs and cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, and a complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs and cats.
The Mayor and Council shall have power to appoint one or more persons to be known as dog catchers, who may impound unlicensed dogs running at large in violation of the provisions of this article.
A. 
The dog catcher of the Borough 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 premises 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 off the premises of the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on his collar.
(3) 
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or off the premises of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
B. 
If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness having inscribed thereon or attached hereto the name and address of any person or wears a registration tag or the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog is known, the dog catcher shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the owner or the known person keeping or harboring said dog, 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 notice has not been and cannot be given as above set forth, and if 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 $4 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 dog catcher may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
[Amended 5-5-2003 by Ord. No. 03.20]
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.
[Amended 4-15-1991 by Ord. No. 91-1]
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog or cat shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon the public streets or in any public park or in any public building or in any other public place within the Borough of Dunellen, County of Middlesex.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit it to be upon the public streets or in any of the public places of the Borough of Dunellen unless such dog is accompanied by a person over the age of 12 years and is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit or suffer it to do any injury or to do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.
Any dog which has attacked or bitten any human being or which habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals is hereby defined to be a vicious dog for the purposes of this section. It shall be the duty of the Chief or Acting Chief of the Police Department to receive and investigate complaints against dogs. When any dog complained against shall be deemed by such Chief or Acting Chief of the Police Department to be a vicious dog as herein defined, the said officer shall report the facts to the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Dunellen, who shall thereupon cause the owner or person harboring such dog to be notified, in writing, of the complaint against such dog and to appear before said Judge at a stated time and place. The Judge, at the time set for such hearing, shall inquire into the facts and shall give all interested persons the opportunity to be heard under oath and to be represented by counsel. The Judge shall decide in accordance with the evidence before him and if the Judge shall decide that such dog complained of is a vicious dog, as defined by this section, notice of such decision shall be given to the owner or person harboring such dog. No dog which has been so determined to be a vicious dog shall be permitted to run at large or be upon any street or public place in the Borough of Dunellen, except while securely muzzled and under leash, as provided in this article. The owner or person harboring any such vicious dog who shall suffer or permit such dog to run at large or be upon any street or public place in said Borough while not securely muzzled and under leash shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
Any person, firm or corporation convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this article shall be subject to a penalty not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or both.