[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Barnegat 4-7-80 as Ord. No. 1980-7. Amended in its entirety 12-15-97 as Ord. No. 1997-40. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter of the Code of the Township of Barnegat, in the County of Ocean, and State of New Jersey, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, the following words shall have the following meanings:
ABANDONED
An owner or caregiver has forsaken a domesticated cat entirely, or has neglected or refused to provide care and support to the cat.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
ANIMAL
For the purpose of this chapter, animal shall mean cat.
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
Any person employed or appointed by the Township who is authorized to investigate violations of laws and regulations concerning animals, and to issue citations in accordance with New Jersey law and this Code.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
CAREGIVER
Any person who provides food, water or shelter to or otherwise cares for a cat or cats.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species, male, female or altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of six (6) months.
DOMESTICATED CAT
A cat that is socialized to humans and is appropriate as a companion for humans.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
EAR MARKED
A tagged, notched or tipped left ear as performed by a licensed veterinarian.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
FERAL CAT
A cat that is not socialized to humans and is not appropriate as a companion for humans.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
FERAL CAT COLONY
A group of cats that congregates, more or less, together as a unit. Although not every cat in a colony may be feral, any non-feral cats that congregate with a colony shall be deemed to be a part of it.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The agency or department of the Township of Barnegat Board of Health or any designated representative thereof charged by the Board with administering the issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions of this chapter.
NEUTERED/ALTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
NUISANCE
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
Shall include, but not be limited to, disturbing the peace by:
(1) 
Habitual or continual howling, crying or screaming by a cat or cats; or
(2) 
The habitual and significant desecration or soiling of personal and/or real property by a cat or cats without permission of the owner of the property.
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 his or 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 and includes any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, trust, estate or any other legal entity.
[Amended 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
Each and every cat in the Township of Barnegat shall be duly licensed and shall bear evidence of such license at all times by wearing a collar or other device such that a metal disc may be attached thereto, which disc shall bear the name of Barnegat Township, the year and license number and which disc shall be affixed to the animal at all times.
A. 
Fees.
[Amended 8-18-08 by Ord. No. 2008-27; 4-4-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-11]
(1) 
One-year license. The persons applying for the license and registration tag shall pay a fee of twelve dollars ($12.) for the registration tag for each cat has been spayed or neutered; and an additional charge of three dollars ($3.) for each cat that is neither spayed nor neutered. Said fee shall be retained by the Township of Barnegat, in a dedicated fund known as the "Cat Trust Fund," except for any part thereof which represents a registration or other fee that must be forwarded to the State of New Jersey, pursuant to law. With the passage of this subsection, the fees will be twelve dollars ($12.) if the cat is spayed or neutered and fifteen dollars ($15.) if they are not.
B. 
Persons who fail to obtain a license as required within forty-five (45) days of the enactment of this chapter will be subject to a delinquent fee of five dollars ($5.) per month and shall be a violator of this chapter.
C. 
Thereafter, licenses shall be secured within thirty (30) days of January 1 each year.
A. 
Every owner of a cat over six (6) months of age shall have his cat inoculated with rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare or the New Jersey Department of Health. Such vaccination shall be repeated annually or at such intervals as provided by regulations of the State Department of Health and shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
B. 
Any cat may be exempted from the requirement of such vaccination for a specified period of time by the Board of Health or its agent upon the presentation of a certificate from a duly licensed veterinarian stating that, by reason of age, infirmity or other physical condition, the vaccination of such cat for such specified period of time is contraindicated.
C. 
It is further provided that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to require the vaccination of any cats located in and confined to duly recognized and licensed boarding facilities, pet shops, shelters, or veterinary hospitals.
The owner of any cat vaccinated against rabies shall obtain from the veterinarian who vaccinates said cat a certificate in form identical to those used for dogs or a standard immunization certificate in use by the licensed veterinarian of this or any other state or country and shall, within ten (10) days after bringing the cat into the Township of Barnegat, deliver said certificate to the Board of Health or its agent and obtain a license as set forth herein.
Whenever the Township of Barnegat has reason to believe or has been notified by the State Department of Health that there is a danger that rabies may spread within the township, the Board of Health or any officer, inspector or agent thereof may serve a notice, in writing, upon all persons within the township owning or having charge of any cat or other animal, so far as the same may be known, requiring such person to confine such cat or other animal. In lieu of serving such written notice, the Board of Health may cause a notice to be published in the official newspaper of the township. Any person owning or in charge of a cat or other animal which is subject to such notice and who does not comply with the orders and instructions of such notice shall be considered a violator.
Any person, whether an owner or custodian of a cat, who is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be, upon conviction of any of the provisions hereof, subject to a fine or penalty of at least a minimum fine of thirty-five dollars ($35.), but not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.) or imprisonment in the common jail of the County of Ocean for a term not exceeding thirty (30) days, or both, at the discretion of the Magistrate before whom such conviction is had.
[Amended 10-5-98 by Ord. No. 1998-23]
The Township Clerk or his/her assignee is hereby appointed to annually cause a canvass to be made of all cats owned, kept and harbored within the limits of the township.
The Animal Control Officer, and/or his agents, shall be responsible for enforcing this chapter and shall issue a summons or complaint to all persons in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 4-4-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-11]
Any resident of the Township of Barnegat may obtain from the Township Animal Control Officer, animal cages for the catching and restraining of animals when said cages are available, pursuant to the Township's current Animal Control Contract.
No person keeping, harboring or in charge of any dog, cat or other animal shall cause, suffer or allow such dog, cat or other animal to soil, defile, deface or defecate on, or commit any nuisance on any public or private property, including but not limited to any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, by-path, play area, park or any place where people congregate or walk. The aforesaid restrictions shall apply to those persons who shall comply with the following:
A. 
The person in charge of such dog, cat or other animal who is in violation of this act shall immediately remove all feces deposited by such animal in a sanitary method approved by the Board of Health.
B. 
The feces removed from the aforementioned designated area shall be disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog, cat or other animal.
C. 
Any person violating subsections A or B of this section shall be subject to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.).
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
Owners of domesticated cats shall:
A. 
Provide appropriate and adequate food, water and shelter for their cats, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:22-26;
B. 
Exercise reasonable care to guard against the cat creating a nuisance;
C. 
Not permit a sexually intact (not spayed or neutered) domesticated cat to roam unsupervised; and
D. 
Not abandon a domesticated cat, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:22-6.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
Feral cat colonies shall be permitted, and caregivers shall be required to maintain them in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Section 38-13.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
A. 
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this chapter, this Section 38A-13 is intended to govern all matters which relate to the management of feral cats.
B. 
For the purposes of this Section 38A-13, the following terms shall have the meaning set forth in this section. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular, words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the male gender include the female gender.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
Caregivers are responsible for the following:
A. 
Taking steps that are reasonably likely to result in the vaccinations of the colony population for rabies, and making reasonable efforts to update the vaccinations on cats that can be recaptured;
B. 
Taking steps that are reasonably likely to result in the spay/neuter of one hundred percent (100%) of a colony population. Procedures are to be done by a recognized veterinarian;
C. 
Providing the description of each cat in the colony and copies of documents evidencing that the cats have been vaccinated and spayed/neutered;
D. 
Providing food, water and, if feasible, shelter for colony cats;
E. 
Observing the colony cats at least twice per week and keeping a record of any illness or unusual behavior noticed in any colony cats;
F. 
Obtaining the approval of the owner of any property to which the caregiver requires access to provide colony care;
G. 
In the event that kittens are born to a colony cat, the caregiver shall take reasonable steps likely to result in the removal of the kittens from the colony after they have been weaned, and the placement of the kittens in homes or foster homes for the purpose of subsequent permanent placement;
H. 
Obtaining proper medical attention to any colony cat that appears to require it.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
A. 
The left ear of a colony cat that has been spayed or neutered and vaccinated shall be ear marked;
B. 
If possible, an electronic animal identification device (EAID) shall be inserted into the cat by a licensed veterinarian, in accordance with professional medical standards.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
A. 
An Animal Control Officer who has trapped a cat whose left ear has been ear marked, or which bears some other distinguishing mark indicating that it belongs to a feral cat colony, shall scan the cat for an EAID. If an EAID is found, the officer shall be responsible for contacting the sponsor or other person named as owner of the cat.
B. 
If the owner or sponsor is not able to immediately take custody of the cat, the officer shall return the cat to the appropriate colony;
C. 
If the cat does not have an EAID, and the cat is obviously a domestic cat, then the Animal Control Officer shall arrange for care for the cat until the owner is located and may determine the disposition of the cat in those circumstances where the domestic cat's owner cannot be located.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
The Township shall have the following rights:
A. 
The right to seize or remove cats from a colony that have not been vaccinated against rabies and which are demonstrating signs of the disease.
B. 
The right to seize or remove a cat from a colony that is creating a nuisance, as defined above, and the caregiver has been given thirty (30) days to remove and relocate the cat, and have failed to do so.
C. 
The right to seize or remove a colony of cats when the caregiver regularly fails to comply with the requirements of this Section 38A-13, and the Animal Control officer has not been able to obtain a replacement or substitute caregiver within sixty (60) days of the Township's notice of the caregiver's failure to comply with this article.
D. 
The right to seize or remove cats from a colony if it is determined that there is a public health threat, including but not limited to, zoonotic diseases, feline FIV or leukemia.
[Added 12-15-14 by Ord. No. 2014-32]
Any person who violates any one or more provisions of this Section 38A-13 shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500. for each separate offense and/or confinement in the Ocean County jail for a period of not more than ninety (90) days. In the case of a continuing violation or violations, a fine of not more that $500. may be assessed for each day that said violations are not corrected. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.