[Editor's Note: Prior ordinance history includes portions
of Ordinance Nos. 5/21/62, 4/19/65, 3/18/68, 12/18/78, 5-83 and 95-5.]
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 96-10; Ord. No.
98-12 § 4]
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the
meanings as indicated:
Shall mean the designated township official(s) authorized
to conduct the annual canvass of dogs within the township, to impound
and take dogs into custody and to destroy dog so impounded as provided
by statute, as well as any and/or all other duties as assigned by
this code and/or state laws/regulations.
Shall mean any dog, neutered, bitch or spayed bitch.
Shall mean any dog which has attained the age of seven months
which possesses a set of permanent teeth, whichever occurs first.
Shall mean an establishment, licensed as a commercial kennel under this code (Chapter 5) wherein and whereupon the business of boarding or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except that a pet shop or veterinary office (as defined in Chapter 5 of this code) where dogs of licensing age are kept or maintained for any reason in one place or establishment shall not be deemed a "commercial kennel".
Shall mean an establishment, licensed as a noncommercial kennel under Chapter 5 of this code, where a breed or dog fancier who is resident or owner of the lot on which the establishment is located keeps six or more dogs of a licensable age, but no more than ten dogs of a licensable age, for the principal purpose of breeding for the enhancement of perpetuation of a given breed, hunting, practice tracking exhibit (showing) in dog shows, training for field or obedience trials, guarding or protecting of the householder's property or person for the householder's personal or professional enjoyment and not for the purpose of sale.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, shall mean and
include every person having a right of property in such and every
person has such a dog in his/her keeping.
Shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation
or association of persons.
Shall mean any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition
pen not part of the kennel wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
Shall mean any dog or dog hybrid declared potentially dangerous
by a municipal court pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-23.
Shall mean an establishment for confinement of dogs whether
seized under provisions of this chapter or otherwise.
Shall mean any establishment where dogs are received, housed
and distributed without charge.
Shall mean the Township of Hardwick in the County of Warren.
Shall mean one who is registered and licensed in the State
of New Jersey to practice veterinarian medicine or surgery.
Shall mean an establishment where dogs are received, housed
and discharged after being cared for by a New Jersey veterinarian,
as defined above.
Shall mean any dog or dog hybrid declared vicious by a municipal
court pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-22.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
a.
The animal control officer is hereby designated as the official to
conduct the annual canvass of dogs within the township, to impound
and take dogs into custody and to destroy dogs so impounded, as provided
by statute. The township clerk or designee is hereby designated as
the official for licensing dogs within the township.
b.
Disposition of fees. The license or other fees collected under the
provisions hereof, except those paid to the state, shall be turned
over to the township chief financial officer within 30 calendar days
of collection. The fees collected shall be accounted for and spent
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.11, as amended and supplemented
from time to time. Such portion of this license fee, as required by
law, shall be forwarded to the New Jersey State Department of Health.
c.
List of licensed establishments forwarded to the State Health Department.
The authorized township licensing official shall forward to the New
Jersey State Department of Health a list of all kennels within 30
days after the license is therefore issued, which list shall include
the name and address of the license and the kind of license issued.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 98-12 § 1]
a.
Any person who shall have owned, kept or harbored a dog of licensing
age in the township on or before January 31, 1996, and annually thereafter,
in accordance with an annual dog license or renewal thereof issued
pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1 to 4:19-15.23 (inclusive)
and N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.27, as well as any amendments and supplements
thereto, shall apply before and procure from the township clerk a
license and official metal registration tag for such dog so owned,
kept or harbored and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness
to which the registration tag shall be securely fastened.
b.
Kennels (commercial or noncommercial), pet shops, veterinary offices,
shelters or pounds.
1.
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel
(commercial or noncommercial) shall apply to the township clerk to
license dogs for a license entitling him/her to keep or operate such
establishment. The township will not issue a municipal license for
any person who does not meet the following criteria:
(a)
Any kennel to be licensed hereunder shall be so located, constructed,
arranged and/or operated in such manner that it is not a nuisance
as to noise, odors or other actions to the neighborhood and further
in such manner that the dogs maintained therein cannot come in contact
with other dogs not owned or maintained by the owner of the kennel.
(b)
The application shall set forth where the establishment is located
or proposed to be located, which property where the establishment
is or to be located shall be of at least six acres and the purpose(s)
for which it is to be maintained. Such application shall be accompanied
by the written approval of the Warren County Board of Health, the
township zoning officer or other designated township official shall
in compliance with local and state rules and regulations governing
the location of and sanitation of such establishments, as well as
compliance with this code.
2.
All licenses for a kennel (commercial and noncommercial) shall state
the purpose for which the establishment is maintained, and all such
licenses will expire on the last day of January of each year. Said
license shall be subject to nonrenewal only by the township committee,
upon recommendation of the State Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) or the Warren County Board of Health or the township animal
control officer or the township zoning officer, as applicable, with
failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the applicable
agency/board governing the same, after the owner has been afforded
a hearing by the township committee.
3.
Any person holding a commercial license shall not be required to
secure individual licenses for dogs owned by such licensee and kept
at such establishment. Such kennel license (commercial or noncommercial)
shall not be transferable to another owner or to different premises
of the same owner.
4.
No dog in a kennel, pet shop, veterinary office, shelter or pound
shall be permitted off such premises, except on a leash or in a cage
or other safe control.
5.
A person must be at least 18 years of age with a valid I.D. to be
named as an owner or one of the owners of the property/location of
the facility.
6.
Neither the applicant nor any member of his/her immediate family
may have been convicted of any form of animal cruelty.
7.
No license shall be issued for any dog unless the owner applying
for the license shall exhibit a licensed veterinarian's certificate
and the dog has been currently vaccinated against rabies pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.2(a), as amended and supplemented, and that the
rabies vaccine should extend throughout the period for which the license
is being issued. The dog shall also be vaccinated against distemper
and parvovirus.
8.
All kennels located within the township shall comply with all provisions
of N.J.A.C. 8:23A-1.1 et seq. as amended and supplemented from time
to time, as well as other applicable statutes, rules and regulations.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 98-12 § 2; Ord. No. 2000/5 § 1; Ord. No. 2004/04; Ord. No. 2012-02]
a.
The person applying for the license and registration, except for
the noncommercial kennels, shall pay a fee of either ten ($10.00)
dollars for a spayed and/or neutered dog(s), or thirteen ($13.00)
dollars for a non-spayed and/or non-neutered dog(s), for a one-year
license and a one-year registration for each dog. For each renewal,
the fee for the license and registration tag shall be the same as
the original license and tag, and such license/registration tags and
renewals thereof shall expire on January 31 of the year following
the year the license/registration was issued, consistent with the
term of the license. In the event that said license and registration
was applied for after March 1 of each year, an additional late fee
of five ($5.00) dollars per month, per dog, will be charged. After
April 1 of each year, the late fee shall increase to ($10.00) dollars
per month, per dog. The noncommercial kennel license must be obtained
before individual licenses/registrations can be issued. All dogs,
irrespective of whether they are housed at a commercial or noncommercial
kennel, are required to wear a tag.
b.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons, commonly known as "seeing
eye" dogs, or dogs used with deaf persons, commonly known as "hearing
ear" dogs, or dogs used for therapy for persons with other afflictions
shall be licensed and registered as other dogs as hereinabove provided,
except the holder or keeper of such dogs shall not be required to
pay any fee thereof.
c.
The annual license fees, including licensure/registration for each
dog, are as follows:
1.
|
Kennel Type
|
Annual Flat Fee
|
|---|---|
|
Commercial kennel
|
$125.00
|
|
Noncommercial kennel
|
$100.00
|
2.
No fee shall be required for a shelter, pound, pet shop or veterinary
office. An additional fee of ten ($10.00) dollars for each dog exceeding
the total number of ten for each commercial kennel will be charged.
Example: one commercial kennel with 12 dogs will be charged one hundred
twenty-five ($125.00) dollars for a flat annual fee plus ten ($10.00)
dollars for each of the two dogs exceeding the total of ten dogs for
that kennel, equaling twenty ($20.00) dollars. Total fee is one hundred
forty-five ($145.00) dollars.
3.
The license for a commercial and/or noncommercial kennel shall expire
on June 30th of the following year the license was issued consistent
with the terms of the license in this chapter. Commercial kennel application
shall include proof from the National Dog Registry of an approved
tattoo for each dog at the time of licensing/registration.
4.
In the event that said license was applied for after February 1st
of each, an additional fifteen ($15.00) dollars per month will be
charged.
d.
A pick up fee for retrieval of any dog running at large upon any
public highway, street, alley, park, sidewalk or other public place,
or upon any private property shall be twenty-five ($25.00) dollars
per calendar year for the second offense and twenty-five ($25.00)
dollars per calendar year for each subsequent offense thereafter.
Such fee shall be paid upon release of the dog. There shall be no
fee for the first offense.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 98-12 § 3; Ord. No. 2000/5 § 2]
a.
Any person owning, keeping, maintaining, harboring or having charge
of a dog in the township shall:
1.
Prevent such dog from running at large upon any public highway, street,
alley, park, sidewalk (where applicable) or other public place within
the township.
2.
Prevent such dog from running at large upon the lands or premises
of any person, other than the person owning, keeping, maintaining,
harboring or having charge of such dog, without the consent of the
owner or lessee of such private lands and premises.
4.
Prevent such dog from injuring any other person or animal or damaging
any lawns, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property of any person other
than the person owning, harboring, keeping or having charge of such
dog.
b.
Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the use of dogs for
hunting purposes by duly licensed hunters and the barking, crying
or howling of dogs while so employed shall not be construed, for purposes
of this chapter, as unreasonably disturbing the peace or quiet of
the neighborhood.
c.
No person, except an officer in the performance of his/her duties,
shall remove a registration tag from the collar of any dog without
the consent of the owner nor shall any person attach a registration
tag to a dog for which it is not issued.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 98-12 § 5]
a.
It shall be the duty of the animal control officer or designee to
receive and investigate complaints against vicious dog(s), as defined
herein, and, when any dog complained against shall be deemed by such
animal control officer or designee to be a vicious dog, as herein
defined, said animal control officer or designee shall report such
to the North Warren Intermunicipal Court, which shall thereupon cause
the owner or person harboring such dog to be notified, in writing,
of the complaint against such dog and to appear before said intermunicipal
court at a stated time and place. The intermunicipal court, at the
time set forth for such hearing, shall inquire into the facts and
give all interested persons an opportunity to be heard under oath
and to be represented by counsel if desired.
b.
The intermunicipal court shall declare the dog vicious if it finds
by clear and convincing evidence that the dog:
1.
Killed a person or caused serious bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.A.
2C:11-1(b) to a person; or,
2.
Has engaged in dog fighting activities as described in N.J.S.A. 4:22-24
and N.J.S.A. 4:22-26.
|
A dog shall not be declared vicious for inflicting death or
serious bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1(b) upon a person
if the dog was provoked. The township shall bear the burden of proof
to demonstrate that the dog was not provoked. If the intermunicipal
court declares a dog to be vicious and no appeal is made, the dog
shall be destroyed in a humane and expeditious manner, except that
no dog may be destroyed during the pendency of an appeal.
|
c.
The intermunicipal court shall declare a dog to be potentially dangerous
if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the dog:
1.
Caused bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1(a) to a person
during an unprovoked attack and poses a serious threat of bodily injury
or death to a person; or,
3.
Has been trained, tormented, badgered, baited or encouraged to engage
in unprovoked attacks upon person or domestic animals.
The township shall bear the burden of proof to demonstrate that
the dog was not provoked. A dog shall not be declared potentially
dangerous for: (1) causing bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1(a)
to a person if the dog was provoked; or, (2) killing a domestic animal
if the domestic animal was the aggressor.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
a.
The animal control officer shall be a person appointed by the township
on an annual basis, who shall be compensated pursuant to a duly adopted
salary ordinance. The township may also appoint a deputy animal control
officer on an annual basis, who shall be compensated pursuant to a
duly adopted salary ordinance.
b.
The animal control officer and/or deputy animal control officer or
other designee shall exercise those powers as set forth in state law
and/or regulations and/or provisions of the township code, including
this chapter.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
All licenses for a kennel (commercial or noncommercial) shall
be subject to revocation during the licensing year only by the township
committee on recommendation of the New Jersey State Department of
Health and the New Jersey State Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) or the Warren County Board of Health or the township zoning
officer or the township animal officer or designee for failure to
comply with applicable provisions of this chapter or the rules and
regulations of the applicable state and/or township agencies governing
the same, after the licensee has been afforded a hearing by the township
committee.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
No person shall abandon an animal in or within the limits of
the Township of Hardwick. Any person who abandons an animal within
the township will be subject to a fine of not less than fifty ($50.00)
dollars and not to exceed two hundred fifty ($250.00) dollars.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
No license shall be issued for any dog unless the owner applying
for the license shall exhibit a licensed veterinarian's certificate
and the dog has been currently vaccinated against rabies pursuant
N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.2(a), as amended and supplemented, and that the rabies
vaccine should extend throughout the period for which the license
is being issued.
[Ord. No. 98-12 § 6]
No provision of this section shall be construed to apply to
any establishment wherein or whereupon 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.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter
who fails or refuses to comply with any of the provisions hereof shall,
upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand
($1,000.00) dollars or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed
90 days or by community service for a period not to exceed 90 days,
or by both fine and imprisonment.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 2013-02]
It is the purpose of this section to preserve and protect the public health, sanitary conditions and general welfare of the inhabitants of the township by prohibiting the commercial raising of hogs, swine or pigs within the Township of Hardwick except as permitted in subsection 5-3.3 of this section and subsection 13-12.3e in the Hardwick Township Land Development Ordinance.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
The raising of hogs, swine or pigs on a commercial basis or
to operate a commercial piggery, by any person, firm, or corporation
shall be prohibited within the township.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1; Ord. No. 2011-18]
The number of hogs, swine or pigs permitted to be raised at
any time on a farm lot or lots forming a farm unit shall not be in
excess of five in number.
[Ord. No. 96-10 § 1]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the
terms or provisions of this section shall upon conviction thereof,
be subject to imprisonment for a term not to exceed ten days or to
a fine not exceeding one hundred ($100.00) dollars or both. Each day
that a violation of any of the terms or provisions of this ordinance
shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.
