Certain words, phrases and terms in this chapter are defined
for the purposes herein as follows:
For the purpose of this chapter, animal shall mean dog or
cat.
shall mean any person or agency designated or certified by
the State of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this ordinance.
shall mean any member of the domestic feline species; male,
female, or altered.
shall mean any cat which has attained the age of seven months,
or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
shall mean any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition
pen, not part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
shall mean the agency or department of the Borough of Little
Silver or any designated representative thereof charged with administering
the issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions
of this chapter.
shall mean rendered permanently incapable of reproduction
as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
when applied to the proprietorship of a cat shall include
every person having a right of property or custody in such cat and
every person who has such cat in his/her keeping, or who harbors or
maintains a cat or knowingly permits a cat to remain on or about any
premises occupied by that person.
shall mean any individual, corporation, partnership, organization,
or institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
a.Â
Vaccination and License Requirements. No person shall own, keep,
harbor, or maintain any cat over seven months of age within the Borough
of Little Silver 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.
b.Â
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 paragraph d.
c.Â
Vaccination Certificate. A certificate of vaccination shall be is-sued
to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended by the
State.
d.Â
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
be-cause of an infirmity or other physical condition, or regimen of
therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
a.Â
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 municipality, or other official designated
by the governing body thereof to license cats in the municipality
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 license number shall include, but are not limited
to, break-away or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves are not
transferable.
b.Â
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 license tag or sleeve for such cat within ten
days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will
not apply to a non-resident keeping a cat within the Borough of Little
Silver for no longer than 90 days.
c.Â
Cats Brought into Jurisdiction. Any person who shall bring, or cause
to be brought into the Borough of Little Silver, any cat licensed
in another state for the current year, and bearing registration tag
or sleeve, and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within
the Borough of Little Silver for a period of more than 90 days, shall
immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for
each such cat.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough
of Little Silver any unlicensed cat, and shall keep same or permit
same to be kept within the Borough of Little Silver for a period of
more than ten days, shall immediately apply for a license and registration
tag or sleeve for each such cat.
d.Â
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 a
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 clerk or other local official designated to license cats in
the municipality.
e.Â
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.
f.Â
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 a rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Human Services, or has been certified exempt as provided by section 24-2d 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.Â
License Fee Schedule. A license shall be issued after payment of
a fee of fifteen ($15.00) dollars for each unneutered cat, and twelve
($12.00) dollars for each neutered cat. A late fee of five ($5.00)
dollars shall be assessed on all license renewals issued to a cat
owner after the expiration date of January 31.
h.Â
Fee, Renewals, Expiration Date of License. License from another municipality
shall be accepted. The person applying for the license and registration
tag and/or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed or authorized. The fee for
the renewal of license and registration tag or sleeve shall be the
same as for the original, and said license registration tag or sleeve
and renewal thereof shall expire on the last day of January, in the
following year.
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required
in the licensing year for any cat in the Borough of Little Silver.
Any valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey
municipality shall be accepted by this municipality as evidence of
compliance.
i.Â
Loss of License. If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced or
lost, the borough clerk may issue a duplicate license and/or registration
sleeve for that particular cat at a fee of fifty ($.50) cents. Pursuant
to Ordinance No. 709-11, the fee shall be one ($1.00) dollar, effective
January 1, 2012.
j.Â
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.Â
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.
l.Â
Disposition of Fees Collected. License fees and other moneys collected
or received under the provisions of this chapter, shall be forwarded
to the treasurer of the municipality, and shall be placed in a special
account separate from any of the other accounts of the municipality
and shall be used for but not limited to the following purposes: local
prevention and control of rabies, providing anti-rabies treatment
under the direction of the local board of health for any person known
or suspected to have been exposed to rabies, for administering the
provisions of this ordinance and any other purpose deemed by the local
board of health or mayor and council of the Borough of Little Silver
to be in the interests of the public health or public welfare.
No cat either licensed or unlicensed, shall be permitted to
run at large off the premises of the person owning or having the care,
custody or control of the cat or to trespass upon the property of
any other resident of the borough.
The owner of a cat which bites a person while such person is
on or in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including
the property of the owner of the cat, shall be liable for such damages
as may be suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former
viciousness of such cat or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness.
The owner of a cat shall be responsible for any damage caused by the
destruction or wounding of domestic animals or poultry, except dogs
and cats, committed by the cat.
The police department shall annually cause a canvass to be made
of all cats owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the borough
and shall report to the borough clerk and the local board of health
the results thereof, setting forth in separate columns the names and
addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring cats, the number
of licensed cats owned, kept, or harbored by each of the persons,
together with the registration numbers of each of the cats, and the
number of unlicensed cats owned, kept or harbored by each of the persons,
together with a complete description of each unlicensed cat.
a.Â
Animal Control. The chief of police or any person appointed for that
purpose by the mayor and council shall take into custody and impound
and thereafter destroy or dispose of:
1.Â
Any cat off the premises of the owner or the person keeping or harboring
the cat, which the official or his agent has reason to believe is
a stray cat;
2.Â
Any cat off the premises of the owner or the person keeping or harboring
the cat without a current registration tag on his collar;
3.Â
Any female cat in season off the premises of the owner or the person
harboring or keeping the cat;
b.Â
Notice of Seizure. If any cat so seized wears a collar or harness
having inscribed thereon or attached thereto the name and address
of any person, or a registration tag, or the owner is known, the chief
of police or any person authorized by him shall serve on the person
whose address is given on the collar, or on the owner or the person
keeping or harboring the cat if known, a notice in writing, stating
that the cat has been seized and will be liable to be disposed of
if not claimed within seven days after the service of the notice.
c.Â
Service of Notice. A notice under this section may be served either
by delivering it to the person to 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 either address.
d.Â
Redemption Fees; Destruction of Cat. When any cat so seized has been
detained for seven days after notice, when notice can be given or
has been detained for seven days after seizure, when no notice has
been given, and if the owner or person keeping or harboring the cat
has not claimed the cat and paid all expenses incurred by reason of
its detention, including maintenance not exceeding two ($2.00) dollars
per day, and if the cat is unlicensed at the time of the seizure and
the owner or person keeping or harboring the cat has not produced
a license and registration tag for the cat, the chief of police or
any person authorized by him may cause the cat to be destroyed in
as humane a manner as possible.
Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable for the penalty as stated in section 5-13.
Nothing herein contained shall in any way be construed as relieving
any person from complying with any State statutes or other regulations
pertaining to the licensing and registration of cats, and this chapter
is intended to be supplementary to any provisions of any such other
laws.
