For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ANIMAL
Dog or cat.
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this article.
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.
CATTERY
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The Township Municipal Clerk under the auspices of the Township Administrator.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, includes every person having a right of property (or custody) in such cat and every person who has such cat in their keeping or who harbors or maintains a cat or knowingly permits a cat to remain on or about any premises occupied by that person.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
A. 
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within the Township of Bloomfield 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 treatment 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. 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 local Board of Health, 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. 
Cats must have license number displayed. Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the Department a license and official registration tag with a 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 or displayed thereto. 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 of any cat which attains licensing age shall make application for a license tag or sleeve for such cat within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping a cat within the Township of Bloomfield for no longer than 90 days.
C. 
Cats brought into the Township of Bloomfield.
(1) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Bloomfield any cat licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag or sleeve and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of Bloomfield for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
(2) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Bloomfield any unlicensed cat and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of Bloomfield for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat. Any valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be accepted by this municipality as evidence of compliance for the remainder of the first calendar year of residence.
D. 
Application; contents; preservation of information. The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the cat for which license and registration are sought and whether it is of 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 Department.
E. 
License forms and tags. License forms and official tags or sleeves shall be furnished by the Township and shall be numbered serially and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the Township.
F. 
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certification of exemption; requirement for license. No official designated by the governing body of the Township to license cats therein shall 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 Human Services or has been certified exempt as provided by § 134-36 of this chapter. 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 $22, for each spayed/neutered cat and $25 for each nonspayed/nonneutered cat. Persons who apply for a license as required after August 1 will be subject to a late charge of $20 per renewal application.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
H. 
Fees; renewals; expiration date of license:
(1) 
The person applying for the license and registration tag and/or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed or authorized. The fee for the renewal of a 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 June 30 of the following year of issuance.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(2) 
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required in the licensing year for any cat in the Township of Bloomfield.
I. 
Loss of license. If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced or lost, the Department may issue a duplicate license and/or registration sleeve for that particular cat at a fee of $1.
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 by the Department to perform any duty under this article.
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 Township and shall be placed in the Dog Trust Account and shall be used for the following purposes only: collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure; for local prevention and control of rabies; domestic and wild animal control; providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction of the local Board of Health for any indigent person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; and for administering the provisions of this article. Any unexpended 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.
Any ACO appointed by the Police Department shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter offered for adoption, or euthanized depending on health or temperament if not reclaimed by the owner, as provided in this section:
A. 
Any cat off the premises of the owner of the person keeping or harboring said cat which said official or official's 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 female cat in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said cat.
D. 
Any cat or other animal which is suspected to be rabid.
E. 
Any cat or other animal off the premises of the owner reported to or observed by a certified animal control officer to be ill, injured or creating a threat to public health, safety or welfare or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment of property.
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, is wanded and a chip is found registered to the owner, or the owner or the person keeping or harboring said animal is otherwise known, any person authorized by the governing body shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the owner 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 adopted or euthanized depending on health or temperament if not claimed within seven days after the service of the 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 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 their usual or last-known place of abode or to the address given on the collar.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this article shall be liable, upon conviction, to a penalty as provided in § 1-15, General penalty, of this Code, to be recovered by and in the name of the Township.