[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
(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.
Any person who picks up any stray dog shall immediately notify
and turn over the stray dog to the pound keeper.
(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.
