[Adopted 1-4-1978 by Ord. No. 78-1
as Ch. 13 of the 1978 Code]
[Amended 3-4-1981 by Ord. No. 81-9; 11-6-1981 by Ord. No. 81-15; 10-5-1983 by Ord. No. 83-7; 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5; 10-4-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-6; 12-7-2011 by Ord. No.
2011-11; 12-14-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-12; 12-13-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-17]
Each person who shall own, possess, keep or harbor any dog or
dogs shall obtain an annual license for each dog and shall have the
same registered with the Animal Registrar Officer. If a license is
purchased prior to March 16, the fee for such license shall be $17.
In addition to the aforesaid fee, an additional charge of $3 shall
be paid in order to license any dog of reproductive age which has
not had its reproductive capacity permanently altered through sterilization.
It shall be the responsibility of the dog's owner to provide proof
of such sterilization.
[Added 10-4-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-6]
If a dog license is purchased after March 15, but prior to the commencement of the annual census, a late fee of $10 shall be paid in addition to the license fee set forth in § 50-1 hereof. If a dog license is purchased after the annual census is commenced, a late fee of $50 shall be paid in addition to the license fee set forth in § 50-1 hereof.
The annual license and registration of individual
dogs shall not apply to dogs under the age of six months.
A.Â
License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this article, except registration tag fees
and fees for kennels and pet shops, shall be placed in a special account
separate from any of the other accounts of the Township. Such account
shall be used for the following purposes only:
(1)Â
For collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable
to seizure under this article, for local prevention and control of
rabies.
(2)Â
For providing antirabies treatment under the direction
of the local Board of Health for any person known or suspected to
have been exposed to rabies.
(3)Â
For all other purposes prescribed by the Revised Statutes
of New Jersey governing the subject and for administering the provisions
of this article.
B.Â
Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account
shall be retained therein until the end of the third fiscal year following.
At the end of the third fiscal year following, and at the end of each
fiscal year thereafter, there may be transferred from such special
account to the general funds of the Township 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.
C.Â
The registration fee of $0.25 for each tag shall be
forwarded within 30 days after collection to the State Department
of Health. The additional twenty-cent registration fee shall be forwarded
to the Pilot Clinic Fund in accordance with law. The three-dollar
fee to be paid by owners of dogs which have not been sterilized shall
be forwarded to the Department of Health pursuant to law.
[Amended 10-5-1983 by Ord. No. 83-7]
All applications for dog licenses shall be made
to the Township, which shall provide a book for the purpose of registering
the name of the person or persons owning, keeping, possessing or harboring
any dog or dogs, and the name of each dog registered and its number
shall be entered therein, and numbers for each application for registration
of such dog or dogs shall be in the order in which the applications
are made.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
The owner of every dog shall pay the license
fees hereinbefore provided to the Animal Control Officer on or before
the first day of February in each year, and, upon receipt of said
license fee or fees, as the case may be, the Animal Control Officer
shall thereupon issue to each person paying such license fee or fees
a license for the keeping of such dog or dogs, and which license shall
contain the name and address of the owner of the dog, indicating name,
breed, sex and markings of the dog, and also the number of such license
and shall bear the signature of the Animal Control Officer. All such
licenses shall expire on the first day of February of the year following
the issuance thereof.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
The Animal Control Officer shall also issue,
for each dog licensed, a numbered metal tag, which tag shall be securely
attached to a strap or collar worn around the neck of each dog so
licensed, and each tag shall have marked thereon the words "licensed
dog, Oldmans Township, New Jersey" and figures denoting the year for
which the license was issued. The Animal Control Officer may issue
substitute tags upon proof, in writing, from the owner or a member
of the owner's household above the age of 14 years sufficient to satisfy
the Animal Control Officer of the loss of the original tag. Any owner
so obtaining such substitute tag or tags shall pay $1 for each such
substitute tag.
Every person who shall own, keep, possess or
harbor any dog or dogs in the Township of Oldmans who shall neglect
or refuse to cause such dog or dogs to be licensed in the manner herein
provided on or before the first day of February in each year shall
be guilty of a violation of this article; provided, however, that
any owner of a dog bringing such dog into the Township in any year
who shall cause the same to be licensed within 15 days thereafter
shall be taken and deemed to have complied with this article in respect
thereto.
Any dog owner who shall suffer or permit any unlicensed dog to run at large or who shall suffer or permit any dog, whether licensed or not, to run at large without the tag provided for in § 50-6 of this article or who shall cause or permit any unlicensed dog to wear such a tag shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
Any dog or dogs not licensed pursuant to the
provisions of this article shall be subject to seizure by the duly
appointed Animal Control Officer, impounded and thereafter destroyed
or offered for adoption in accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16, and
any dog which shall not have securely fixed or fastened to its neck
a tag issued with the license for such dog shall be deemed unlicensed
and subject to seizure. All dogs seized pursuant to the provisions
of this section shall be impounded until disposed of in accordance
with the provisions of the statutes.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
Dogs used as guides for blind persons, commonly
known as "seeing eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons
and commonly known as "service" dogs and dogs used to assist deaf
persons and commonly known as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed
and registered as other dogs, except that the owner or keeper shall
not be required to pay any fee therefor.
Any person who harbors or possesses any dog
for a period of 15 days or more shall, for the purpose of this article,
be deemed to be the owner of the dog or dogs so harbored or possessed.
[Added 10-4-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-6]
The owner of a dog which has been previously
registered and licensed shall notify the Animal Control Officer in
the event that said dog dies or is no longer housed in Oldmans Township.
Said notification shall occur within 10 days of the death or removal
of said dog from Oldmans Township.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
No person who owns, harbors, keeps or possesses
a female dog shall suffer or permit her to be in or upon any street,
highway or alley or other public place in the Township of Oldmans
or to trespass upon the property of other persons at any time or times
when such female dog may be in heat. Any such female dog running at
large in violation of this section shall be impounded by the Animal
Control Officer, who may destroy it or place it for adoption in accordance
with law.
No person who owns, keeps, harbors or possesses
any dog or dogs shall suffer or permit such dog or dogs to annoy neighbors
and other persons living within his immediate vicinity by continued
barking and howling, and whenever complaint shall be made, in writing,
under oath, by two or more persons living within hearing distance
of such dog setting forth that such barking or howling is continued
for unreasonable periods for three or more consecutive days or nights,
to the annoyance and discomfort of the complainants and their neighbors
and families, so that it can be established that such barking and
howling is a nuisance to the immediate neighborhood, then and in such
case said owner shall cause said barking and howling to cease and
terminate immediately, and if such barking and howling shall occur,
regardless of its duration, the provisions of this article shall be
deemed to have been violated, and the owner shall pay such penalty
as may be imposed therefor.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
The Animal Control Officer of the Township of
Oldmans, or such person or persons as the Township Committee may by
resolution designate, shall annually cause a canvass of all dogs to
be made in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.15.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
Any person who shall in any way hinder or interfere with the Animal Control Officer, official canvasser or canvassers, constable or any other peace officer in the performance of his duties under the provisions of this article or who shall refuse to give information to the persons making any canvass under § 50-14 of this article or who shall take a dog from the dog pound, except upon redeeming such dog as provided by law, or who shall break or damage such dog pound shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of this article.
[Amended 9-5-1979 by Ord. No. 79-4; 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
A.Â
No person who owns, keeps or harbors any dog, whether such dog is licensed or unlicensed, shall permit such dog to run or be unattended in any public place or upon the private property of any person, other than the property of the person who owns, keeps or harbors such dog. Any person who violates this subsection shall be punishable as provided in § 50-20.
B.Â
In addition to any court proceeding which may be brought under Subsection A of this section, the Animal Control Officer of the Township may take into custody and impound and thereafter destroy or offer for adoption any dog which shall run or be unattended in any public place or on the property of any person other than the one who owns, keeps or harbors such dog.
C.Â
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 person keeping or harboring
the dog is known, the Animal Control Officer shall forthwith serve
on the person so identified a notice, in writing, stating that the
dog has been seized and will be liable to be destroyed or offered
for adoption if not claimed within seven days after service of the
notice.
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.
[Amended 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
Vicious dogs shall be dealt with as provided
in N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 13.18, regarding
destruction of vicious dogs, which immediately followed this section,
was deleted 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5.
A.Â
Kennel defined; license required.
[Amended 4-6-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-4]
(1)Â
Any person who harbors or allows to remain on their
property more than five (5) adult dogs shall be deemed to operate
a kennel, pet shop, shelter, or pound, and shall be responsible for
procuring a license from the Township Licensing Officer entitling
them to keep or operate such establishment in accordance with N.J.S.A.
4:19-15.8 et seq.
(2)Â
Any individual or entity harboring five or more licensed
dogs on the property prior to the effective date of this section shall
not be required to obtain a variance to operate a kennel but shall
be required to pay the licensing fee as described herein, as the use
shall be deemed nonconforming for the number of dogs which they have
licensed on the effective date of this section.
B.Â
The annual license fee for the kennel providing accommodations
for 10 or fewer dogs is $200, and the annual license fee for a kennel
providing accommodations for more than 10 dogs is $500. The annual
license fee for a pet shop is $200. No fee shall be charged for shelter
or pound.
[Amended 5-2-1984 by Ord. No. 84-5]
[Added 9-3-1997 by Ord. No. 97-5]
