[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Winslow 7-20-93 as Ord. No. 0-18-93]
The Code of the Township of Winslow is hereby amended and supplemented by the addition of Chapter 127, entitled "Cats."
As used in this chapter, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any member of the domestic feline species: male, female or
altered.
Any cat which has attained the age of six (6) months.
A room, group of rooms, cage, exhibition pen or kennel where
cats are kept for organized shows, breeding for exhibition, for sale
or display.
Maintaining custody, possession or control over a cat or
permitting a cat to remain on premises or providing shelter or food.
The agency or department of the Township of Winslow or any
designated representative thereof charged with administering the issuance
and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions of
this ordinance.
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
Includes every person having a right of property (or custody)
in a cat and every person who has such cat in his/her keeping, possession
or control or who harbors or maintains a cat or knowingly permits
a cat to remain on or about any premises occupied by the owner.
See the definition for Harboring.
A cat that damages or harms persons, public or private property.
No person shall own, keep, harbor
or maintain any cat over six (6) months of age within the Township
of Winslow 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.
A.
Vaccination. All cats as defined must be
vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance
with the guidelines of the latest "Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines
and Recommendations for Immunization," published by the National Association
of State Public Health Veterinarians, or as otherwise required by
the terms of this Ordinance or of the appropriate departments of the
State of New Jersey.
B.
Vaccination certificate. A certificate
of vaccination shall be issued to the owner of each vaccinated cat,
on a form recommended by the State of New Jersey. It shall be the
duty of every veterinarian, at the time of vaccinating the cat, to
provide a copy of the rabies vaccination certificate as set forth
herein.
Licenses must be procured annually
for all cats over the age of six (6) months. Application for such
license shall be made to the Municipal Clerk, and the following information,
including presentation of a valid rabies certificate showing that
the cat has been immunized for rabies shall be furnished:
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 Clerk of the Township, or
other official designated by the governing body thereof to license
cats in the township in which he/she resides, 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
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 ten (10) days after such acquisition or age attainment.
This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping a cat within
the Township of Winslow for no longer than ninety (90) days.
C.
Cats brought into jurisdiction.
(1)
Any person who shall bring or cause to
be brought into this township 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 for
a period of more than ninety (90) days shall immediately apply for
a license and registration tag or sleeve for such cat.
(2)
Any person who shall bring or cause to
be brought into this township any unlicensed cat and shall keep the
same or permit the same to be kept within the township for a period
of more than ten (10) days shall immediately apply for a license and
registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
D.
License forms and tags. License forms and
official tags or sleeves shall be furnished by the municipality and
shall be numbered serially and shall bear the year of issuance and
the name of the municipality.
E.
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine
or certification of exemption; requirement for license. No Municipal
Clerk or other official designated by the governing body of any municipality
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 an appropriate rabies vaccine.
F.
License fee schedule. A license shall be
issued after payment of a fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) for each
license issued in any given year except as follows:
[Amended 3-25-03 by Ord.
No. O-10-03; 9-25-07 by Ord. No.
O-35-07; 2-25-14 by Ord. No. O-2014-002]
(1)
The license fee for all spayed female cats
and neutered male cats shall be seventeen dollars ($17.00);
(2)
The license fee for a cat owned by a senior
citizen sixty-five (65) years of age or older shall be five dollars
($5.00), unless the cat is spayed or neutered in which case the fee
shall be two dollars ($2.00);
(3)
There shall be no license fee for any cat
owned by an active volunteer fireman or an active volunteer EMS squad
member, including life members; and
(4)
There shall be no license fee for any cat
owned by a disabled veteran.
G.
Fees, renewals and 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. All licenses shall expire on
the 31st day of January following the calendar year for which issued.
(2)
Only one (1) license and registration tag
or sleeve shall be required in the licensing year for each cat. Any
valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality
shall be accepted by this township as evidence of compliance.
H.
Loss of license. If a license tag or sleeve
has been misplaced or lost, the Township Clerk shall issue a duplicate
license and/or registration sleeve for that particular cat at a fee
of one dollar and twenty cents ($1.20).
I.
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.
J.
Interfering with persons performing duties
under this chapter. No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with
anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this chapter.
[Added 9-25-07 by Ord. No.
0-35-07]
It is hereby declared unlawful for
any owner, keeper or harborer of any female cat to permit such cat
to run at large while in heat, whether or not a valid registration
tag is attached.
Any cat running at large in violation
of the provisions of this chapter is declared to be a public nuisance.
Said cat may be impounded by the appropriate local authorities. An
impoundment fee shall be charged against the owner of said cat by
the entity impounding the cat.
No person shall abandon any cat of
any age or permit a cat to become a stray.
Editor's Note: See also Chapter 202, Pet Waste Disposal.
No person owning, keeping or harboring
any cat shall permit it to soil, defile or commit any nuisance on
any place where people congregate or walk or upon any public property
whatsoever. This provision shall apply to all privately owned property
in the township, except the property of the owner or keeper of the
cat and the property owned or controlled by persons who have invited
or permitted the owner or keeper of a cat to bring such cat upon the
premises.
Any person violating any of the provisions
of this chapter, shall be imprisoned in the County Jail for a period
not exceeding ninety (90) days, or shall be subject to a fine of not
more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.) per day of the violation,
or both, in the discretion of the Court, and each day's continuance
of the violation shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
[Added 3-22-16 by Ord. No.
O-2016-008]
[Added 3-22-16 by Ord. No.
O-2016-008]
When used herein, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
An animal control center or animal shelter, maintained by
or under contract with any state, county, or municipality, whose mission
and practice is, in whole or significant part, the rescue and placement
of animals in permanent homes or rescue organizations.
Any not-for-profit organization which has tax exempt status
under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code,
whose mission and practice is in whole or in significant part, the
rescue and placement of animals in permanent homes.
A member of the species of domestic cat, Felis Catus.
A member of the species of domestic dog, Canis Familiaris.
To sell, offer for sale or adoption, advertise for the sale
of, barter, auction, give away or otherwise dispose of a dog or cat.
A retail establishment where dogs and cats are sold, exchanged,
bartered or offered for sale as pet animals to the general public
at retail. Such definition shall not include an animal care facility
or animal rescue organization, as defined.
[Added 3-22-16 by Ord. No.
O-2016-008]
