[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Somerville 4-15-91 as Ord. No. 1097. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
CAT — Any member of the domestic feline species; male, female,
or neutered.
B.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE — Any cat which has attained the age of
seven (7) months, or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
C.
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY — Any person or agency designated
or certified by the State of New Jersey to enforce the provisions
of this chapter.
D.
OWNER — 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.
E.
CATTERY — Any room or group of rooms, cage, or exhibition pen,
not part of kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
F.
PERSON — Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization,
or institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
G.
LICENSING AUTHORITY — The office of the Town-ship Clerk or
the Board of Health or any other designated department or representative
of the borough so charged with administering the issuance and/or revocation
of permits and licenses under the provisions of the chapter.
H.
NEUTERED — Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as
certified by a licensed veterinarian.
A.
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall own, keep,
harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within the Borough
of Somerville, 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 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.
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 subsection A.
C.
Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination shall be issued
to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended by the
State and/or approved by the Somerville Health Officer.
D.
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements of such
vaccination for a specified period of time by the Board of Health
of the Borough of Somerville upon presentation of a veterinarian's
certificate stating that because of an infirmity or other physical
condition, or regimen of therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall
be deemed inadvisable.
A.
Cats must have license number displayed. Any person shall own, keep,
or harbor a cat of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure
from the licensing authority, a license and official registration
tag with license number 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,
breakaway or elastic licensing collars. License tags are not transferable.
Any cat of licensing age who does not bear an official valid registration
tag shall be deemed a "stray". Stray cats may be confiscated by the
Borough Animal Control Warden.
B.
Time for applying for license. Any person who shall own, keep or
harbor a cat of licensing age shall in the month of June of each year
and annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the authorized
municipality licensing official a license which shall expire on the
last day of June of each year.
[Amended 6-1-92 by Ord. No. 1120]
|
The owner of any newly acquired cat of licensing age, or any
cat which attains licensing age, shall make application for license
tag for such cat within ten (10) days after such acquisition or age
attainment. This requirement will not apply to a non-resident keeping
a cat within the Borough of Somerville for no longer than ninety (90)
days.
|
C.
Cats brought into jurisdiction. Any person who shall bring, or cause
to be brought into the Borough of Somerville any cat licensed in another
State for the current year, and bearing registration tag and who has
proof of rabies vaccination, and shall keep the same or permit the
same to be kept within the Borough of Somerville for a period of more
than ninety (90) days, shall immediately apply for a license and registration
tag for such cat.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough
of Somerville any unlicensed cat, and shall keep the same or permit
same to be kept within the Borough of Somerville for a period of more
then ten (10) days, shall immediately apply for a license and registration
tag for each such cat.
D.
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-shorthaired variety; also the name, street and post-office
address of the owner, and person who shall keep or harbor such cat.
E.
License forms and tags. License forms and official tags shall be
furnished by the licensing authority and shall be numbered serially,
and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
F.
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certification of exemption; requirement for license. No licensing authority shall grant such license and official registration tag 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 62-2D of this chapter. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian permitted by law to do same.
G.
License fee schedule. A license shall be issued after payment of
a fee of fourteen dollars ($14) for each nonneutered cat, and eleven
dollars ($11) for each neutered cat. Persons who fail to obtain a
license as required within the time period specified shall be subject
to a delinquent fee of three dollars ($3) for the first month and
one dollar ($1) for each succeeding month.
[Amended 6-1-92 by Ord. No. 1120; 11-5-07 by Ord. No. 2249; 5-19-08 by Ord. No. 2265]
H.
Fees, renewals, expiration date of license. Licenses from another
municipality shall be accepted. The person applying for the license
and registration tag shall pay the fee fixed or authorized. The fee
for the renewal of the license and registration tag shall be the same
as for original, and said license, registration tag or and renewal
thereof shall expire the following year. Only one (1) license and
registration tag shall be required in the licensing year for any cat
in the Borough of Somerville. Any valid New Jersey license tag issued
by a New Jersey municipality shall be accepted by this municipality
as evidence of compliance. All licenses shall expire on June 30th.
I.
Loss of license. If a license tag has been misplaced or lost, the
licensing authority may issue a duplicate license registration tag
for the particular cat at a fee of one dollar ($1).
J.
Proof of license. Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person
owning, keeping, maintaining, or harboring a cat, upon request of
any health official, police officer, animal control officer and other
authorized person.
K.
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.
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other monies collected
or received under the provisions of this chapter, shall be forwarded
to the Treasurer of the Borough of Somerville, and shall be placed
in a special account separate from any other accounts of the Borough
of Somerville and shall be used for the following purposes only: collecting,
keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure, for local prevention
and control of rabies, providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction
of the Board of Health for any person known or suspected to have been
exposed to rabies, and for administering the provisions of this chapter.
Any unexpected balance remaining in such special account shall be
retained until the end of the third fiscal year following, and may
be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section. At the
end of the said third fiscal year thereafter, there shall be transferred
from such special account to the general funds of the municipality
any amount then in such account which is in excess of the total amount
paid into the special account during the last two fiscal years next
preceding.
Any person who violates, or who refuses to comply with this chapter, shall be liable to a penalty as set forth in Section 62-6.
If any chapter, section, subsection or paragraph of this revision
is declared to be unconstitutional, invalid or inoperative, in whole
or in part by a court of competent jurisdiction, such chapters, section,
subsection or paragraph shall, the extent that it is not unconstitutional,
invalid or inoperative, remain in full force and effect, and no such
determination shall be deemed to invalidate the remaining chapters,
sections, subsections or paragraphs of this revision.
A.
Maximum penalty. Unless otherwise provided by law, statute or ordinance,
any person violating any of the provisions of this revision shall,
upon conviction there-of, pay a penalty of not less than twenty-five
dollars ($25) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense.
Complaint shall be made in the Municipal Court of the borough or before
such other judicial officer having authority under the laws of the
State of New Jersey. In addition, the Court shall have the power to
impose other penalties provided by N.J.S.A. 26:3-77 and N.J.S.A. 26:3-78.
B.
Separate violation. Except as otherwise provided, each and every
day in which a violation of any of the provisions of this revision
exists shall constitute a separate violation.
C.
Disposition of fees and penalties. All fees and penalties collected
under any provision of this revision of the codes established herein
shall be paid to the Borough Treasurer.
