[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1; Ord. No. 7-2017, § 4]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species; male, female or altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
ANIMAL
For the purpose of this article, dog or cat.
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency certified by the State of New Jersey and designated by the Borough of Morris Plains to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
OWNER
Includes, when applied to the proprietorship of a cat, 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 person that regularly feeds, shelters or cares for a cat shall be deemed the owner of that cat.
CATTERY
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not a part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The Borough Clerk or other official designated by the Borough Council to administer the issuance of licenses under the provisions of this chapter.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
(a) 
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat of licensing age within the Borough of Morris Plains unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. 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 Paragraph (d).
(c) 
Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination shall be issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated, on a form recommended by the state.
(d) 
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements of such vaccination for a specified period of time by the animal control authority, 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.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
No person shall own, keep or harbor any cat within the Borough without first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued by the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the Borough Council, upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and no person shall keep or harbor any cat except in compliance with the provisions of this article.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall, in the month of January of each year and annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the Borough Council 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.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
The person applying for the license and registration tag during the month of January as required by Section 5-29 of this article shall pay a fee for the licensing of each cat and an additional sum for the registration tag of each cat, as set forth in the Fee Schedule of the Borough, Chapter 2, Article 8, of the Revised Ordinances. For each annual renewal, the fee for the license and for the registration tag shall be the same as for an initial license and tag, except that any person who should have procured a license and official metal registration tag pursuant to Section 5-29 during the month of January, but who failed to do so, shall pay a late fee as set forth in the aforesaid Fee Schedule in addition to the license and registration tag fees, together with any other fines due to summons issued that may be imposed on him for failure to obtain a cat license prior to February 1. Said licenses, registration tags and renewals thereof shall expire on the last day of January in each year.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
The owner of any newly acquired cat of licensing age or of any cat which attains licensing age shall make application for license and registration tag for such cat within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
(a) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough any cat 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 cat.
(b) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough any unlicensed cat 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 cat.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
Only one license and registration tag shall be required in any licensing year for any cat owned in New Jersey, and such license and tag issued by any other municipality of this state shall be accepted by the Borough as evidence of compliance with Sections 5-29 and 5-30.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
(a) 
No person, except an officer in the performance of his duties, shall remove a registration tag from the collar of any cat without the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration tag to a cat for which it was not issued.
(b) 
No licensed cat shall be allowed off the premises of the person harboring or keeping the cat without the metal registration tag attached to its collar.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1]
(a) 
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the cat for which a license and registration are sought and the name, street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such cat.
(b) 
The information on said application and the registration number issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the Borough Council. Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of the applications.
[Ord. No. 7-2017, § 5]
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain more than three cats of licensing age at any one time in any residence or upon its grounds, or in any business establishment or upon its grounds. Any person who, on the effective date of this section, is the owner of a lawfully licensed cat in excess of three may continue to keep, care for, own and maintain all such licensed cats but may not replace any such cat in excess of three. This shall not apply to any duly licensed veterinary or cattery.
[Ord. No. 7-2017, § 6]
No person owning, keeping, harboring or maintaining a cat shall permit, suffer or allow said cat to:
(a) 
Run at large within the limits of the Borough;
(b) 
Be off the premises of such owner or person so keeping, harboring or maintaining a cat or upon a street or other public place in the Borough, except when restrained by a leash or when otherwise under the strict control of some responsible person able to control said cat;
(c) 
Cause any injury to any person;
(d) 
Interfere with the enjoyment of any public or private property, which shall be deemed a nuisance, or create a condition hazardous to public health, safety or welfare;
(e) 
Cause damage or destruction of private or public property, or injury to any person or other domestic animal, or create a threat to public health, safety or welfare, or cause damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds, trees or other real or personal property, including but not limited to, depositing any urine or feces thereon, or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment of real or personal property.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1; No. 18-96, § 4; Ord. No. 7-2017, § 7]
The Chief of Police or such other person appointed for the purpose by the Borough Council shall biennially cause a canvass to be made of all cats owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the Borough. He shall report on or before September 1 of the year in which the census is taken to the Borough the result thereof setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring such cats, the number of licensed cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons and the number of unlicensed cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with a complete description of each said unlicensed cat.
[Ord. No. 18-89, § 1; Ord. No. 7-2017, § 7; Ord. No. 7-2018, §§ 3, 4]
The Animal Control Officer of the Borough shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and, thereafter, destroyed or offered for adoption as provided in this article:
(a) 
Any cat off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said cat which said Animal Control Officer or his agent or agents have reason to believe is a stray cat.
(b) 
Any cat off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said cat without a current registration tag on its collar.
(c) 
Any cat which is suspected to be rabid.
(d) 
Any cat off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said cat reported to or observed by the Animal Control Officer of the Borough to be ill, injured or creating a threat to public health, safety or welfare or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment of property.
[Ord. No. 7-2017, § 7; Ord. No. 7-2018, §§ 3, 4]
(a) 
If any animal 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 said animal is known, the Animal Control Officer shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or the owner or person on the license and registration tag, or the person keeping or harboring said animal, if known, a notice, in writing, stating that the animal has been seized and will be liable to be offered for adoption or destroyed if not claimed within seven calendar days after issuance of said notice.
(b) 
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 at the person's usual or last known place of residence or at the address given on the collar or on the license and registration tag, or by forwarding it by post in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of residence or to the address given on the collar or license and registration tag.
[Ord. No. 7-2018, § 4]
The Animal Control Officer of the Borough may cause an animal to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible and consistent with the provisions of N.J.A.C. 8:23A, or offered for adoption after the close of the seventh calendar day after seizure, provided that:
(a) 
Notice is given as set forth in Section 5-39.2 above and the animal remains unclaimed; or
(b) 
The owner or person keeping or harboring the animal has not claimed the animal and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance costs.
[Ord. No. 7-2018, § 4]
The provisions of this article shall be enforceable by the Borough Animal Control Officer employed or contracted by the Borough, and may be enforceable by the Borough Health Officer and any Borough Police Officer in the event the cat is deemed to be a nuisance or creating a condition hazardous to public health, safety and welfare. It shall be unlawful for any person to hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized to enforce the provisions of this article.
[Ord. No. 7-2018, § 4]
(a) 
Any person who violates or fails or refuses to comply with Section 5-28, 5-29, 5-30, 5-31, 5-32, 5-33, 5-34, or 5-35 shall be liable for a penalty of not less than $50 for each offense, to be recovered in the name of the Borough.
(b) 
For violation of any other provision in this Article 2, the penalty shall be a fine not more than $2,000, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, provided that the minimum penalty shall be $100.