[1999 Code § 8.76.010]
As used in this article:
Means off the premises of the owner and not under the control
of the owner or a member of his immediate family, either by leash,
cord, chain or otherwise as provided herein.
Means both male and female.
Means any establishment wherein or whereon the business of
boarding or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on,
except a pet shop.
Means any person or persons, firm, association or corporation
owning, keeping or harboring a dog.
[1999 Code § 8.76.020]
All dogs over seven (7) months of age kept, harbored or maintained
in the Township shall be licensed and registered by the Township and
shall bear evidence of such license at all times in accordance with
the laws of the State of New Jersey. The owner shall state, at the
time application is made for such license and upon printed form provided
for such purpose, his or her name and address and the name, breed,
color and sex of each dog owned or kept by the owner.
[New]
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing
age shall, in the month of January, annually apply for and procure
from the Municipal Clerk a license and official metal registration
tag for each such dog so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon
each dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened
thereto.
[New]
a.
The person applying for the license and registration tag shall pay an annual dog license fee as established in Article IV, Fee Schedule, of this chapter.
b.
If a license tag has been misplaced or lost, the Township Clerk may
issue a duplicate license for that particular dog at a fee of one
($1.00) dollar.
c.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "seeing
eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons and commonly known
as "service dogs," or dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly
known as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other
dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of
such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
d.
Only one (1) license and registration tag shall be required in any
licensing year for any dog owned in New Jersey, and such license and
tag shall be accepted by all municipalities as evidence of compliance
with this Article.
[N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.2a]
No Municipal Clerk or other official designated by the Governing
Body of any municipality to license dogs therein shall grant any such
license and official metal registration tag for any dog unless the
owner thereof provides evidence that the dog 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 Health, Education, and Welfare, or has been certified exempt as
provided by regulations of the State Department of Health. Such vaccination
shall be repeated at 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. The State Department of Health shall promulgate regulations
providing for the recognized duration of immunity, interval of inoculation,
certificate of vaccination, certificate of exemption, and such other
matters related to this act.
[New]
The owner of any newly acquired dog or of licensing age of any
dog which attains the age of seven (7) months shall make application
for a license and registration tag for such dog within ten (10) days
after such acquisition or age attainment.
[New]
a.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township
any dog licensed in another State for the current year and bearing
a registration tag, and shall keep same or permit 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 for each dog.
b.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township
any unlicensed dog, and shall keep same or permit 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 for each such
dog.
[Ord. No. O.1856-2014§ 2]
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with
this section shall be liable to a penalty of fifty ($50.00) dollars
for each offense. Appearance before a Municipal Court Judge will not
be required unless specified and duly noted on the summons. A violator
may plead guilty and pay any penalty in person or by mail. (N.J.S.A.
4:19-15.19)
[1999 Code § 8.76.030]
No dog shall run at large at any time.
[1999 Code § 8.76.040]
Any dog off the premises of the owner shall be accompanied by
a person who is capable of controlling it and who has the dog securely
confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six (6)
feet long.
[Ord. No. O.1985-2017]
a.
It is unlawful to chain or tether unneutered/unspayed dogs in any
manner, at any time, within the Township.
b.
Neutered/spayed dogs may be tethered under the following circumstances:
1.
The tether must be at least fifteen (15) feet long and have an operative
swivel on both ends, weigh no more than one eighth (1/8) of the dog's
weight and be attached to and properly fitted with a buckled collar
or harness;
2.
The collar used for tethering may not be a choke chain collar, slip
collar or prong collar;
3.
The tether must allow the dog access to proper shelter, sufficient
food, sufficient potable water and dry ground at all times;
4.
The tether may not be used in any area where it may be tangled around
an object, such as, but not limited to, a tree, pole, fence or stake;
5.
Dogs shall be so confined for a period no greater than nine (9) hours
within a twenty-four (24) hour period;
6.
No animal shall remain outdoors, tethered, untethered, or penned
during a period of extreme weather, including but not limited to,
extreme heat (ninety (90) degrees or above), extreme cold (thirty-two
(32) degrees or below), thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, tropical
storms, or hurricanes; and
7.
In no instance shall an animal remain outdoors, tethered, untethered,
or penned under the age of six (6) months old, or while sick, injured
or in distress.
[1999 Code § 8.76.050; Ord. No.
O.1985-2017]
a.
Any person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog who
allows such dog to defecate on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk,
passageway, bypath, play area, park, school grounds or any space where
the public congregate or walk or upon any public property or place
whatsoever or upon any private property without the permission of
the owner of the property shall:
1.
The person who so curbs such dog shall immediately remove all feces
deposited by such dog by any sanitary method approved by the Department
of Health;
2.
The feces removed from the aforementioned designated area shall be
disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge
of any dog curbed in accordance with the provisions of this section
in a sanitary method approved by the Department of Health.
b.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to blind persons who
may use dogs as guides.
c.
Any person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog not
curbed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be
deemed to be in violation of this section and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be liable for a minimum fine of fifty ($50.00) dollars and a
maximum fine not to exceed two thousand ($2,000.00) dollars or imprisonment
in the County jail for a term not exceeding ninety (90) days, or both.
d.
This section shall be enforced by the Edison Township Police Department,
Edison Township Health Department or Edison Township Animal Control
Officer. Such enforcement powers shall not preclude a citizen of Edison
Township from filing a complaint on a violation of this section directly
with the Edison Township Municipal Court.
[1999 Code § 8.76.060; Ord. No.
O.1985-2017]
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually
barks or cries so as to disturb the public peace or the comfort and
repose of any person in the vicinity.
[1999 Code § 8.76.070; Ord. No.
O.1985-2017]
The owner or custodian of any dog shall be responsible for any
damage done by such dog.
[1999 Code § 8.76.080]
a.
A dog or other animal which the Division of Health or a licensed
veterinarian finds, upon examination or consideration of its history,
to be vicious shall be surrendered to the Division by the person who
owns, possesses or controls it, and the animal shall be destroyed
by the Division.
b.
A dog or other animal which has bitten a person or various persons
on three (3) separate occasions within a period of twenty-four (24)
months, with or without provocation, when the bite in each instance
was of sufficient severity so that medical treatment was required
by the person bitten, shall be surrendered to the Division by the
person who owns, possesses or controls it and shall be destroyed by
the Division. A Division record of a report made pursuant to Chapter
XII, Health Regulations and Licensing, is prima facie evidence of
the fact that medical treatment was required.
c.
An animal which is vicious or uncontrolled may be impounded by a
peace officer or may be killed if capture is dangerous.
d.
The owner of a dog which has attacked or bitten a person must subject
that animal to a ten-day confinement period. At the expiration of
the ten-day confinement period, the owner shall be required to have
the aforesaid dog examined by a veterinarian in order to determine
whether the animal shows symptoms of rabies. It shall be the obligation
of the owner to present proof of that examination to the Edison Division
of Health within forty-eight (48) hours of the conclusion of the period
of confinement. The aforesaid dog may, at the discretion of the Edison
Division of Health, be housed for the ten-day period of confinement
at the home of the owner or a designated veterinary hospital.
