As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Releasing, leaving or refusing to pick up or claim any animal
which one owned, possessed or had in one's custody or control.
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven (7) months or
which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop.
One (1) or more animals born to a female animal.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, includes every
person having a right of property in such dog and every person who
has such dog in his keeping.
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
An establishment for the confinement of dogs seized either
under the provisions of this Article or otherwise.
Any dog which has attacked or bitten any human being or which
habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals or destroys property.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing
age shall, during the month of January of each year, apply for and
procure from the authorized municipal licensing official a license
and official registration tag for each such dog owned, kept or harbored
and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness with the registration
tag securely fastened thereto.
A.
The person applying for the license and registration tag for a neutered dog shall pay a municipal fee of ten dollars and eighty cents ($10.80) for the municipal dog license for each dog and an additional sum of one dollar ($1) as a State fee and an additional twenty cents ($.20) for the New Jersey Clinic Fund for a total of twelve dollars ($12). The person applying for the license and registration tag for a nonneutered dog shall pay a municipal fee of ten dollars eighty cents ($10.80) for the municipal dog license for each dog and an additional sum of four dollars ($4) as a State fee and an additional twenty cents ($.20) for the New Jersey Clinic Fund for a total of fifteen dollars ($15). Any person who does not obtain the necessary license and registration tag within the time period set forth herein or in Section 74-7 hereof shall pay in addition to the regular license and registration fee a late charge of three dollars ($3) for the first month and one dollar ($1) charge per month thereafter.
[Amended 5-4-81 by Ord. No. 907; 12-17-90 by Ord. No. 1091; 11-5-07
by Ord. No. 2248]
B.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "Seeing
Eye" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other dogs as hereinabove
provided for, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not
be required to pay any fee therefor.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or of any
dog which attains licensing age shall make application for license
and registration tag for such dog within ten (10) days after such
acquisition or age attainment.
A.
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and marking
of the dog for which license and registration are sought, whether
it is of a long- or short-haired variety, and the name, street and
post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or
harbor such dog.
B.
The information on said application and the registration number issued
for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three (3) years by
the authorized municipal licensing official. Registration numbers
shall be issued in the order of the applications.
C.
The authorized municipal licensing official shall forward to the
State Department of Health each month, on forms furnished by said
Department, an accurate account of registration numbers issued or
otherwise disposed of.
A.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the municipality any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag and who shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the municipality for a period of more than ninety (90) days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog, unless a license for such dog is not required pursuant to § 74-9 hereof.
B.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the municipality any unlicensed dog and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the municipality for a period of more than ten (10) days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog, unless a license for such dog is not required pursuant to § 74-9 hereof.
A.
No person, except an officer in the performance of his 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 was not issued.
B.
No licensed dog shall be allowed off the premises of the person harboring
or keeping the dog without the registration tag attached to its harness
or collar.
A.
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel,
a pet shop, a shelter or a pound shall apply to the authorized municipal
officer for a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment.
All licenses issued for such establishments shall state the purpose
for which the establishment is maintained and shall expire on the
last day of January of each year, and no such license shall be transferable
to another owner or different premises.
B.
Any person holding such license shall not be required to secure individual
licenses for dogs owned by such licensee and kept at such establishments.
The application shall describe the premises where the establishment
for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound is located or is proposed
to be located and the purpose or purposes for which it is to be maintained,
and shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Board of Health
and Zoning Officer showing compliance with the local and state rules
and regulations governing the location of and sanitation at such establishments.
All licenses issued for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound
shall be subject to revocation by the governing body on recommendation
of the State Department of Health or the Municipal Board of Health
for failure to comply with applicable provisions of this Article or
the rules and regulations of the State Department of Health or of
the Municipal Board of Health governing the same, after the licensee
has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health
or the governing body.
A.
The annual license fee for a kennel providing accommodations for
ten (10) or fewer dogs shall be ten dollars ($10) and for more than
ten (10) dogs, twenty-five dollars ($25). The annual license fee for
a pet shop shall be ten dollars ($10). No fee shall be charged for
a shelter or pound.
B.
License fees for dog establishments shall be paid with the application.
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be
permitted off such premises except on leash or in a crate or under
other safe control.
A.
License or other fees collected under the provisions hereof, except
registration tag fees, shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the
municipality within thirty (30) days after collection or receipt and
shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other
accounts of the municipality and shall be used for the following purposes
only: for collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable to seizure
under this Article or under local dog control ordinances; for local
prevention and control of rabies; for providing antirabic treatment
under the direction of the local Board of Health for any person known
or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; for payment of damage
to or losses of poultry and domestic animals, except dogs and cats,
caused by a dog or dogs; and for administering the provisions of this
Article. Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account
shall be retained therein 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 following and at the end
of each 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
said special account during the last two (2) fiscal years next preceding.
B.
The registration tag fee of one dollar ($1) for each dog shall be
forwarded within thirty (30) days after collection by the Clerk or
other official designated to license dogs to the State Department
of Health.
[Amended 5-4-81 by Ord. No. 907; 12-17-90 by Ord. No. 1091]
The authorized municipal licensing official shall forward to
the State Department of Health a list of all kennels, pet shops, shelters
and pounds licensed, within thirty (30) days after the licenses therefor
are issued, which list shall include the name and address of the licensee
and the kind of license issued.
The Chief of Police or such other persons designated by the
governing body shall promptly after February 1 of each year cause
a canvass to be made of all unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored
within the limits of the municipality. He shall report on or before
May 1 of each year to the Borough Clerk-Administrator or such other
authorized municipal licensing official, to the Board of Health and
to the State Department of Health the result thereof, setting forth
in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping
or harboring such dogs, the number of unlicensed dogs owned or kept
by each of said persons, together with the complete description of
each of said unlicensed dogs.
The Somerset Regional Animal Shelter Commission may appoint or hire, at such times and for such terms as may from time to time seem expedient, one (1) or more persons, to be known as "Animal Wardens," whose duties shall be to enforce the provisions of this Article and take into custody and impound dogs as provided in § 74-18 hereof. The governing body may authorize the members of the Police Department to perform the above services or may contract for the performance of such services.
[1]
Editor's Note: Ordinance No. 709, adopted 2-7-72, authorized
the borough of Somerville to enter into a joint contract with other
municipalities to establish a regional animal shelter. The long title
of said ordinance read as follows: "An ordinance of the Borough of
Somerville in the County of Somerset authorizing a joint contract
for a period not to exceed forty years between the Township of Bridgewater
in the County of Somerset, the Borough of Manville in the County of
Somerset, the Borough of Somerville in the County of Somerset and
such other municipalities as may from time to time enact similar ordinances
for the establishment of a regional animal shelter in accordance with
the provisions of R.S. 40:48B-1 et seq."
A.
The Animal Wardens or other persons designated by the governing body
shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody
and impounded, and thereafter destroyed or disposed of as hereinafter
provided in this section:
(1)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or
harboring said dog which said official or his agent or agents have
reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or
harboring said dog without a current registration tag on his collar.
(3)
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the
person keeping or harboring said dog.
(4)
Any dog upon the public or private streets or in any public place not accompanied by a person and not confined or controlled as prescribed by § 74-24 hereof.
(5)
Any dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound off such establishment and not confined or controlled as prescribed by § 74-13 hereof.
(7)
Any dog declared vicious in accordance with the provisions of § 74-25 hereof where said dog is off the property of the owner or keeper without being securely muzzled and leashed.
(8)
Any dog which the owner or person keeping or harboring wishes to
dispose of where ownership, custody and control are renounced by the
owner or agent of the owner in a letter directed to the Somerset Regional
Animal Shelter Commission.
B.
If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness having inscribed thereon
or attached thereto the name and address of any person or a registration
tag, or the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog is known,
the one authorized by the governing body shall forthwith serve on
the person whose address is given on the collar, or on the owner or
the person keeping or harboring said dog, if known, a notice in writing
stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be disposed
of or destroyed if not claimed within seven (7) days after the service
of the notice.
C.
A notice under Subsection B of this section may be served either by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or by leaving it at the person's usual or last known place of abode or at the address given on the collar, or by forwarding it by mail in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode or to the address given on the collar.
D.
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven (7) days after
notice, when notice can be given as above set forth in this section,
or has been detained for seven (7) days after seizure, when notice
has not been and cannot be given as above set forth in this section,
and the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not claimed
said dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention,
or if the dog is unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner
or person keeping or harboring said dog has not produced a license
and registration tag for said dog, the Animal Warden may cause the
dog to be destroyed in the most humane manner possible.
E.
When any dog shall be delivered under Subsection A(8) of this section, no notice to the owner shall be required unless the person delivering the said dog is someone other than the owner in which event the procedure set forth in Subsection B, Subsection C and Subsection D shall be followed: if the person delivering the said dog is the owner, the Animal Warden or any other person so authorized may forthwith destroy the dog in the most humane manner possible.
The following fees shall be charged by the Somerset Regional
Animal Shelter Commission:
|
Type of Service
|
Fee
|
|---|---|
|
Boarding (per day)*
|
$1.00
|
|
Pickup (dead or alive)**
|
$8.00
|
|
Euthanasia (animal delivered to shelter by owner
|
$5.00
|
|
Adoption***
|
$10.00 to $35.00
|
|
Registration
|
$3.00
|
|
Redemption
|
$7.00
|
|
Disposal of litter of animals
|
$8.00
|
* NOTE: The boarding fee specified above is applicable to each
day prior to and including the day of redemption of the animal. No
boarding fee shall be charged for adopted animals.
** NOTE: The pickup fee specified above covers removal of dogs,
cats, rabbits, skunks, possums and raccoons from private property.
There shall be no charge for the removal of an animal from public
property.
*** NOTE: The owner of any female dog adopted from the Somerset
Regional Animal Shelter shall present the animal to any licensed veterinarian
for spaying within sixty (60) days of the adoption. A deposit of ten
dollars ($10) shall be paid by an adopting owner at the time of the
adoption to be applied toward payment of veterinarian fees for the
spaying. An owner of such adopted female dog will receive, upon completed
adoption. a certificate evidencing the payment of the said ten dollars
($10) which may be presented to any licensed veterinarian at the time
of the spaying. Veterinarians performing such services within sixty
(60) days of the adoption will be reimbursed to the limit of ten dollars
($10) by the shelter upon presentation to an Animal Warden of proof
that the adopted animal has been spayed. Where a female dog has been
adopted and has not been spayed within sixty (60) days of the adoption,
the deposit of ten dollars ($10) shall be forfeited.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any
duty under this Article is hereby authorized to go upon any premises
to seize for impounding any dog or dogs which he may lawfully seize
and impound when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such dog
or dogs, except upon the premises of the owner of the dog if said
owner is present and forbids the same.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized
or empowered to perform any duty under this Article.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries and thus disturbs the public peace, or which by frequent barking disturbs the peace and quiet of the neighborhood and creates a nuisance thereby. The license for a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound issued pursuant to § 74-9 may be suspended or revoked for continued violations of this section after the licensee has been afforded a hearing by the governing body on due notice of such complaints.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer
or permit it to run at large upon the public streets or in any public
park, in any public building or in any other public place within the
municipality or on the private property of any person other than the
dog owner.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer
or permit it to be upon the public or private streets of the municipality
unless such dog is accompanied by a person and is securely confined
and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six (6) feet long.
Seeing Eye dogs shall be excused from the control set forth in this
section when accompanied by their masters.
[Amended 8-7-1989 by Ord. No. 1067]
A.
Containment.
(1)
No person owning or harboring or having the care or the custody of
a vicious dog shall suffer or permit such dog to be unconfined beyond
or within the premises of such person unless such dog is securely
leashed or otherwise securely restrained.
(2)
No person shall own or harbor any dog for the purpose of dog fighting
or train, torment, badger, bait or use any dog for the purpose of
dog fighting or for the purpose of causing or encouraging said dog
to unprovoked attacks upon human beings or domestic animals.
(3)
No person shall suffer or permit a vicious dog to be unconfined.
B.
Warning to owner; quarantine; liability of owner.
(1)
If the Borough Animal Warden or Health Officer or Chief of Police or their designated representative determines that a dog is a vicious dog as defined under Section 74-1, it shall be the officer's duty to issue a written warning to the owner or harborer of a dog of such viciousness, if the owner shall be known. Such borough officer shall prepare charges in the Municipal Court against the owner thereof, if such owner shall be known, alleging the vicious propensities of said animal. The Municipal Judge shall thereafter hold a hearing within a reasonable period of time and shall hear and determine the evidence presented in support of such charge and said Judge may then, at his discretion, order the dog to be restricted pursuant to the provisions of this section of the Revised Ordinances of the Borough of Somerville or order said dog to be destroyed by the Animal Warden in a manner approved by the Statutes of the State of New Jersey.
(2)
In the event of a dog which has attacked, bitten or injured a human
being, the dog shall be quarantined on the owner's premises or
in a veterinary clinic or at the Regional Animal Shelter for a period
of ten (10) days. At the end of the ten-day period, any dog under
impoundment or quarantine shall be examined by a licensed veterinarian
only who shall ascertain that the dog is free of rabies and shall
therefore cause a certificate as to the dog's condition to be
issued to the owner and to the Animal Warden and Health Officer of
the Borough of Somerville for release authorization. If there are
any associated costs to the Borough of Somerville for such quarantine
or impoundment, the owner of said dog shall be liable to pay the cost
of maintenance, redemption fees and charges and veterinarian fees,
if any, required to be expended by the borough. The owner of the dog
which has attacked, bitten or injured any person or caused any suffering
or injury to a person without the victim's contributing negligence
may be liable for recovery or compensation.
All dogs and/or cats which bite any person shall be quarantined
by the local Board of Health for a ten-day period. The owner or person
in charge of such dog or cat shall, during that ten-day period, have
such dog or cat examined by a veterinarian and obtain a written report
of such examination and forward the same to the local Board of Health.
The report of this examination shall be delivered to the local Board
of Health within fourteen (14) days of the date of the dog or cat
bite.
No person who owns, keeps or harbors a dog shall suffer or allow
such dog to habitually attack other dogs and other animals on any
property other than the property of the owner. A dog shall be deemed
to habitually attack other dogs or animals when at least three (3)
complaints have been made alleging such attacks.
