[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.