[R.O. 1957, 4:1-16]
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this chapter is hereby authorized to go upon any premises and seize for impounding any dog or dogs which he may lawfully seize and impound when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such dog or dogs, except upon the premises of the owner of the dog if the owner is present and forbids the entry of the officer or agent, then a warrant shall issue according to law at the request of such officer or agent.[1]
[1]
Federal law reference: As to inspection of private residences, see Camera v. Municipal Court of San Francisco, 387 U.S. 523 (1967); as to commercial buildings, see See v. City of Seattle, 387 U.S. 541 (1967); as to emergency inspections, see Patrick v. State, 227 A. 2d 486 (1967). State law reference: As to search warrant proceedings, see N.J.S.A. 26:3-59; as to seizure of dogs by going on premises, see N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.17.
[R.O. 1957, 4:1-12, as amended May 2, 1966; MC 1979-11, § 1, October 1, 1979]
(a) 
The Council may from time to time by resolution, enter into a contract with any Humane Society in the City or County or other similar association not organized for pecuniary profit as pound keeper for the collection, keeping for redemption and destruction of all strays found within the City limits in accordance with the provisions of this article. Such pound keeper or duly authorized agent of such Humane Society so contracted with or any Police Officer may seize and take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter destroyed or disposed of as provided in this section.
(1) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the dog which the official or his agent, or agents have reason to believe is a stray dog;
(2) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the dog without a current registration tag on his collar;
(3) 
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog; and
(4) 
Any dog which shall be permitted to run at large within the City, contrary to Section 5:7-3 of this chapter.
(b) 
If any dog so seized wears a collar having inscribed thereon or attached thereto the name and address of any person or registration tag or the owner or the person keeping or harboring the dog is known, the person who by this article is authorized to seize and who has so seized any dog shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar, or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring the dog, if known, a notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be disposed of by sale or destroyed if not claimed within seven (7) days after the service of the notice.
(c) 
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 mail in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode, or to the address given on the collar. When convenient, the notice may be given by telephone to the owner, however, a written notice must still be sent to such owner after the verbal notice.
(d) 
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven (7) days after notice, when notice can be given as above set forth, and if the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not claimed the dog and paid all reasonable expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including the sum of not more than eight dollars ($8.00) for the seizure and maintenance of the dog for the first twelve (12) hours and a sum not to exceed four dollars ($4.00) for each additional day thereafter, or if the dog be unlicensed at the time of seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not produced a license and registration tag for the dog, the pound keeper or agent of the Humane Society, or any person authorized under this article to do so, may cause the dog to be sold or destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
(e) 
It shall be the duty of the pound keeper or agent of the Humane Society, as the case may be, to keep male and female dogs separate at all times. It shall be the further duty of the pound keeper or agent of the Humane Society to segregate and keep segregated all sick animals and animals suspected of being infected with any communicable disease. Every dog so seized or impounded shall be kept, fed and kindly treated by the pound keeper or agent of the Humane Society, who shall act upon the advice of a licensed veterinarian, for the period of time herein provided.
[1]
State law reference: As to impounding, custody, grounds, notice and destruction of dogs, see N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16 and N.J.S.A. 40:48-5.1.
The pound keeper shall keep a complete and careful record of all dogs received by him, entering the breed, color and sex of the dog and whether licensed. If the dog is licensed, the pound keeper shall enter the name and address of the owner and the number of the registration tag. The pound keeper shall also enter in the record the disposition made of the dog.
(a) 
Any impounded dog, which appears to be suffering from rabies or affected with hydrophobia, mange or other infectious or dangerous disease or which has attacked any person, shall be kept at the pound until such time and such conditions as shall be required by the Health Officer. The pound keeper shall notify the Health Officer when he has good reason to believe that such a dog is in his possession.
(b) 
Whenever in the judgment of the pound keeper or the Health Officer it becomes necessary to test a dog, or the remains of a dog, suspected of being rabid, in such event the Humane Society and the Health Division shall have the dog sent to a veterinarian and/or the state of New Jersey laboratory for rabies-hydrophobia testing and disposition, the fees, costs and expenses thereof to be paid by the owner of the dog, exclusive of those legally paid by the State of New Jersey.
[1]
Cross reference: As to disposition of infectious dogs, see the Sanitary Code, Sections, 1:3-18, 19, 20.
(a) 
No person shall harbor or hold for reward, nor shall any person other than the legal owner procure a license for a dog which has strayed upon his premises or which has been picked up on a public street, highway or other public place unaccompanied by its owner or other responsible person, or which has been stolen from its owner.
(b) 
The provisions of this section against harboring and licensing a dog shall not apply to any non-profit corporation organized for the purpose of sheltering dogs or to a legal purchaser of a dog from any such corporation.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to any establishment where dogs are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other treatments owned by and operated under the immediate supervision of a graduate veterinarian licensed in the State of New Jersey.
[1]
State law reference: As to veterinarians' establishments exemption, see N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.27.