As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
For the purpose of this article, "animal" shall mean a cat
or dog.
The authorized Animal Control Officer designated by the Borough
and the Health Officer or his/her designee.
Any member of the domestic feline species, male, female or
altered.
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any room or group of rooms, cage, or exhibition pen, not
part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
Cats living in an unsocialized or wild state, living in a
group or colony.
Cats that roam outdoors and interact with feral cats and
wildlife; cats with a specific owner, stray pets, or cats that may
have originated in one household and are fed or cared for by other
households in the neighborhood.
The Ridgefield Board of Health by and through its Health
Department.
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
Any condition which is dangerous to human life or health,
or that which renders air, water, soil or any type of food hazardous
or injurious to human life or health.
Every person having a right of property (or custody) in such
cat and every person who has such cat in his/her keeping, or who harbors
or maintains a cat or knowingly permits a cat to remain on or about
any premises occupied by that person.
Any individual, corporation, partnership organization, or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
Any cat of licensing age without a current registration tag,
visible tattoo or other bodily identification marking approved by
the Animal Control Officer or any cat which the Animal Control Officer
has reason to believe is a stray cat.
A.
Vaccination and license requirements. Every person who shall own,
keep, harbor, or maintain any cat over seven months of age within
Borough of Ridgefield shall obtain a license for the same and shall
have such cat vaccinated. The provisions of this section do not apply
to cats held in a cattery or those held by a state- or federal-licensed
research facility or a veterinary establishment where cats are received
or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other treatments or licensed
animal shelters, pounds, kennels or pet shops.
B.
Vaccination. All cats shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the latest Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization, published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as provided for in Subsection D.
C.
Vaccination certificate. Proof of vaccination shall be by way of
a certificate of vaccination issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated,
on a form recommended by the state.
D.
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempt from the requirements of such vaccination
for a specified period of time by the local Board of Health of the
Borough of Ridgefield upon presentation of a veterinarian's certificate
stating that, because of an infirmity or other physical condition
or regimen of therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed
inadvisable.
A.
Display of license number. Any person who shall own, keep or harbor
a cat of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the
licensing authority a license and official registration tag with license
number or a registration sleeve for each cat so owned, kept or harbored
and shall place upon such cat a collar or other device with the license
number securely fastened thereto or displayed thereon. Acceptable
methods of displaying the license number shall include, but are not
limited to, breakaway or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves
are not transferable.
B.
Time for applying for license. The owner of any newly acquired cat
of licensing age, or any cat that attains licensing age, shall make
application for a license tag or sleeve for such cat within 10 days
after such acquisition or age attainment. The requirement will not
apply to a nonresident keeping a cat within the Borough of Ridgefield
for no longer than 90 days.
C.
Cats brought into Borough. Any person who shall bring or cause to
be brought into the Borough of Ridgefield any cat licensed in another
state for the current year and bearing a registration tag or sleeve,
and who shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the
Borough of Ridgefield for a period of more than 90 days, shall immediately
apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough
of Ridgefield any unlicensed cat and who shall keep the same or permit
the same to be kept within the Borough of Ridgefield for a period
of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration
tag or sleeve for each such cat.
D.
Application, contents and preservation of information. The application
shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the cat for
which the license and registration are sought and whether it is of
a long- or short-haired variety; also the name, street, and post office
address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such
cat. The information on said application and the registration number
issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three years
by the Clerk or other local official designated to license cats in
the municipality.
E.
License forms and tags. License forms and official tags or sleeves
shall be furnished by the licensing authority and shall be numbered
serially and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
F.
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certificate of exemption requirement for license. The Health Officer or his or her designee shall not grant any such license and official registration tag or sleeve for any cat, unless the owner thereof provides evidence that the cat to be licensed and registered has been inoculated with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Human Services or has been certified exempt as provided by § 131-27.2D of this article. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
G.
License fee schedule. A license shall be issued after payment of
a fee of $15 for each unneutered cat and $12 for each neutered cat.
Anyone who fails to obtain a license after July 31 of each year will
be subject to a delinquent fee of $20. In addition, three-year licenses
shall be available at a cost of $34, covering a three-year period
for any sterilized cat over the age of seven months, and proof of
sterilization must be presented at the time of application. Three-year
licenses shall be available at a cost of $43 for any nonsterilized
cat over the age of seven months. Except for the three-year licenses,
which shall be renewed every three years, each license shall be renewed
annually.
H.
Payment of fees; renewals; expiration date of license. A license
from another municipality shall be accepted. The person applying for
the license and registration tag and/or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed
or authorized. The fee for renewal of the license and registration
tag or sleeve shall be the same as for the original, and said license,
registration tag or sleeve and renewal thereof shall expire on the
30th day of June in the following year.
I.
Loss of license. If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced or
lost, the licensing authority may issue a duplicate license and/or
registration sleeve for the particular cat for a fee of $10.
J.
Proof of licensing. Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person
owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a cat, upon the request
of any health official, police officer, animal control officer, or
other authorized person.
K.
Interfering with persons performing duties under this article. No
person shall hinder, molest, or interfere with anyone authorized or
empowered to perform any duty under this article. The Animal Control
Officer shall have the authority to carry out all regulations and
is authorized and empowered to impound all unlicensed cats.
L.
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other moneys collected
or received under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded
to the Treasurer of the Borough of Ridgefield, and shall be placed
in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the
Borough of Ridgefield, and shall be used for the following purposes
only: collecting, keeping, and disposing of cats liable to seizure;
local prevention and control of rabies; providing antirabies treatment
under the direction of the local Board of Health for any person known
or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; and for administering
the provisions of this article. Any unexpected balance remaining in
such special account shall be retained until the end of the third
fiscal year following and may be used for any of the 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 of Ridgefield
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.
M.
Enforcement. The Animal Control Officer or other person designated
by the Council shall, upon receipt of a written complaint to the Health
Department by a local resident that a cat is a public nuisance, as
defined herein, seize the cat and keep the same in his/her care and
custody for a period of seven full days from the day of apprehension.
N.
Notification of seizure. If any cat apprehended pursuant to the provisions
of this article bears any identification of ownership or place of
abode, the Animal Control Officer or other duly authorized apprehending
official shall, on the day of apprehension, notify the owner or the
occupant of said place of abode that the animal has been apprehended
and that it may be claimed at a designated location, subject to the
provisions of this article. A notice which shall include the complaint
under this article 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 by forwarding it by the post in a
prepaid letter addressed to that person at his/her usual or last known
place of abode.
O.
Reclaiming costs. During the aforementioned seven-day custodial period,
any cat so incarcerated may be claimed by its owner upon payment to
the Animal Control Officer or other authorized custodian of a minimum
fee as set forth in the fee schedule.
A.
Seizure. The Animal Control Officer shall take into custody and impound:
(1)
Any cat running at large in the Borough or off the premises
of the owner, causing injury to a person or another domestic animal,
or creating a threat to public health, safety or welfare, as deemed
by the Health Authority or Animal Control Officer.
(2)
Any cat believed, by the Animal Control Officer, to be a stray.
B.
Notification. If any cat seized wears a current registration tag
or other proper identification marking, the Animal Control Officer
shall serve a notice in writing to the owner. The notice shall state
that the cat has been seized and will be liable to be placed for adoption
or euthanized if not claimed within seven days after the service of
the notice.
C.
Placing for adoption or euthanization. When any cat so seized has
been detained for seven days after seizure when no notice has been
given because of lack of name and address of owner, and if the owner
or person keeping or harboring the cat has not claimed the cat and
paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, the ownership
of the cat shall transfer to the agency providing animal control services
to the Borough of Ridgefield.
D.
Responsibility of owner. The owner shall be responsible for all expenses
incurred by reason of its detention. Such expenses must be paid to
the impoundment facility prior to the release of the cat.
E.
Adoption. If an animal is adopted, at the time of adoption, the right
of ownership in the animal shall transfer to the new owner. No cat
or other animal so caught and detained or procured, obtained, sent
or brought to a pound or shelter shall be sold or otherwise made available
for the purpose of experimentation.
Any cat causing the destruction of private or public property
or injury to a person or other domestic animal, creating a threat
to public health, safely or welfare, causing damage to any lawn, shrubbery,
flowers, grounds, or trees or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment
of property shall be declared a nuisance.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, any person who
violates, or who fails or refuses to comply with this article, shall
be liable to a penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $100 for
each offense to be recovered by and in the name of the local Board
of Health or by and in the name of the Borough of Ridgefield.
