For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
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.
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.
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.