[1974 Code § 66-1]
It shall be unlawful to own, harbor, keep or maintain a cat
of more than six months of age in the Township unless the owner thereof
or the person harboring or maintaining the same shall have complied
with the provisions hereof.
[1974 Code § 66-2; Ord. No. 96-32 § 1; Ord. No. 97-54; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No. 98-17 § 1]
As used in this section:
Shall mean the common wild or domesticated carnivorous quadruped
feline.
Shall mean any cat which has attained the age of six months
or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Shall mean a group of people related by blood or marriage,
including servants, who reside together in the same household.
Shall mean any person, group, family group or corporation,
company, association, society, firm, partnership or joint-stock company,
as well as an individual who gives food, refuge, shelter or protection
to any cat or who shall maintain, tend or keep any cat.
Shall mean, when applied to the proprietorship of a cat,
every person having a right of property in such cat and every person
who has such cat in his keeping for three consecutive days or more.
Shall mean a cat as herein defined that has been rendered
incapable of reproduction.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-14; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
No person shall keep or harbor any cat within the Township without
first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued by the Chief of Police
upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and
no person shall keep or harbor any cat within the Township limits
except in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. As used
throughout this chapter, "Chief of Police" shall be deemed and taken
to mean the Chief of Police or such other person as shall from time
to time be designated by the Township Council to issue licenses pursuant
to this chapter.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-15; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17; Ord. No. 00-2-OAB § 3; Ord. No. 2014-31-OAB § 1]
a.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall,
in the month of January and annually thereafter, apply for and procure
a license and official registration tag for each such cat so owned,
kept or harbored, and shall place upon each such cat a collar or harness
with the registration tag securely fastened thereto. It shall be the
responsibility of the cat owner to present the Township the Veterinarian
Certificate of Rabies Inoculation covering the entire licensing period.
b.
Failure of the owner to obtain a license within the time prescribed by this chapter shall subject the owner to a fine of $25 for the first offense. Any subsequent offenses are subject to fines in the discretion of the Municipal Court Judge pursuant to Subsection 9-8.11. Each day's failure to obtain a license shall be deemed a separate violation.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-16; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17; Ord. No. 07-20-OAB § 2; Ord. No. 2014-31-OAB § 2]
The annual license fee for cats over six months of age shall
be $7 for each male or female cat; unless the application for licensing
the male or female cat is accompanied by a certificate from a licensed
veterinarian surgeon showing that a male or female cat has been altered
or spayed respectively. The annual fee in a case where the cat has
been spayed or neutered shall be $5. Any license which is not renewed
until after January 31 shall be subject to an additional $5 late fee.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-17; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
The owner of any newly acquired cat of licensing age or of any
cat which attains licensing age shall make application for a license
and registration tag for such cat within 30 days after such acquisition
or age attainment.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-18; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
a.
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings
of the cat for which a license and registration are sought, and whether
it is of a long or short-haired variety; also the name, street and
post office address of the owner and persons who shall keep or harbor
such cat.
b.
The information on said application and the registration number issued
for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three years by the
Chief of Police or other local official designated to license cats
in the Township. In addition, the Chief of Police 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.
c.
Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of the applications.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-19; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
a.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township
any cat licensed in another state for the current year and bearing
a registration tag and shall keep the same or permit the same to be
kept within the Township, has 90 days to apply for a license and registration
tag for each cat.
b.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township
any unlicensed cat and shall keep the same or permit the same to be
kept within the Township limits, has 30 days to apply for a license
and registration tag for each cat.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-20; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
No person, except an officer in the performance of his duties,
shall remove a registration tag from the collar of any cat without
the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration
tag to a cat for which it was not issued.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-21; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
License fees and other monies collected or received under the
provisions of this chapter shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of
the Township within 30 days after collection or receipt and shall
be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts
of the Township and shall be used for the following purposes only:
for collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure under
this chapter; for local prevention and control of rabies; for providing
anti-rabies treatment under the direction of the Township Council
for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies;
for all other purposes prescribed by the Statutes of New Jersey governing
the subject, and for administering the provisions of this chapter.
Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account shall be
retained therein until the end of each fiscal year thereafter, there
shall be transferred from such special account to the general funds
of the Township 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.
[Ord. No. 97-54 § 66-22; Ord. No. 98-05; Ord. No.
98-17]
Any person, partnership, corporation or other entity who violates
any provision of this section shall be subject to one or more of the
following penalties: no more than $1,000 or imprisonment in the Ocean
County Jail not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service
not exceeding 90 days. In the event that the Statutes of the State
are amended to provide greater penalties, this section may be construed
to authorize and permit the imposition of the maximum fine, imprisonment
or community service. The purpose of this penalty clause is to provide
the maximum penalty permitted by law.
[1974 Code § 66-3]
No more than five cats shall be sheltered or kept by any one
family group. No cat shall be sheltered or kept that is not domesticated.
The quarters where cats are kept shall be clean and sanitary and such
as not to create a health hazard nor disturbance by reason of noise,
odor or other causes.
[1974 Code § 66-4]
a.
The Chief of Police and any Police Officer designated for that purpose
by the Chief of Police, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals or any similar organization designated by the Chief of
Police shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into
custody or impounded, and thereafter destroyed or disposed of as provided
for in this section:
1.
Any cat off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or
harboring the cat, which the official or his agent or agents have
reason to believe is a stray cat.
2.
Any female cat in season off the premises of the owner or of the
person keeping or harboring the cat.
3.
Any cat, which upon complaint by one or more residents, shall be
habitually bothering, disturbing or causing nuisance to the residents.
b.
If any cat so seized wears a collar, harness, registration tag or
some other identification having inscribed thereon or attached thereto
the name and address of any person or of the owner or the person keeping
or harboring the cat is known, the Chief of Police shall forthwith
serve on the person whose address is given on the collar, or on the
owner or the person keeping or harboring the cat, if known, a notice
in writing stating that the cat has been seized and will be liable
to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after
the service of the notice.
c.
A notice under 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 post in a prepaid letter
addressed to that person at his usual place of abode, or to the address
given on the collar.
[1974 Code § 66-5]
When any cat so seized has been detained for seven days after
notice, when notice can be given as above set forth, or has been detained
for seven days after seizure, when notice has not been and cannot
be given as above set forth, and if the owner or person keeping or
harboring the cat has not claimed the cat and paid all expenses incurred
by reason of its seizure and detention, including maintenance at the
prevailing rates charged per day, the Chief of Police or the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or any similar organization
or any person designated for that purpose, may cause the cat to be
destroyed in a humane manner causing as little pain as possible.
[1974 Code § 66-6]
In addition to the above powers, any constable, special officer
or Police Officer, designated by the Chief of Police, shall have the
power to kill any cat found within the Township which cannot be captured,
apprehended or impounded by such officer, if in the judgment of the
constable, special officer or Police Officer, such act of killing
is necessary to protect the health, welfare, safety, peace and quiet
of the Township or its residents, provided this power shall not effect
or permit the killing of any cat while on the premises of the owner,
harborer or keeper, without the permission of the owner, keeper or
harborer.
[1974 Code § 66-7]
No person who owns, keeps, harbors or maintains any cat shall
permit or suffer it to do any damage to any person, fowl or domestic
animal, or permit or suffer it to do any damage to or to soil or defile
any lawn, shrubbery, garden, flowers, grounds or property of any person
other than the person owning, keeping, harboring or maintaining such
cat.
[1974 Code § 66-8]
Any cat which bites a person shall be quarantined for 10 days
if ordered by the Chief of Police. During quarantine the animal shall
be securely confined and kept from contact with any other animal and
the owner shall surrender the animal for the quarantine period to
an animal shelter or shall, at his own expense, place it in a veterinary
hospital.
[1974 Code § 66-9]
No Police Officer or other person shall kill or cause to be
killed any animals suspected of being rabid, except after the animal
has been placed in quarantine and the diagnosis of rabies made by
a licensed veterinarian. If a veterinarian diagnoses rabies in an
animal in quarantine, then the animal shall be humanely killed and
the head of such animal sent to a laboratory for pathological examination
and confirmation of the diagnosis.
[1974 Code § 66-10]
Any duly accredited humane officer shall have police powers
in the enforcement of this section, and no person shall interfere
with, hinder, molest or abuse any duly accredited humane officer in
the exercise of such powers.
[1974 Code § 66-11; Ord. No. 88-43; New]
[1974 Code § 66-12]
Any person who, upon the effective date of this section shall be the owner, harborer or keeper, as herein defined, of more than five cats and who shall have such cats in his possession in the Township, shall comply with the provisions of Subsection 9-9.1 hereof within 90 days of the effective date hereof.
[Ord. No. 06-18-OAB § 1]
The purpose of this section is to establish an ordinance to
prohibit the feeding of feral cats within the Township of Berkeley,
so as to protect the public's health, safety and welfare, and
to prescribe penalties for failure to comply.
[Ord. No. 06-18-OAB § 2]
For the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings stated herein
unless their use in the text of this section clearly demonstrates
a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the text, words used
in the plural number include the singular number, and words used in
the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is
always mandatory and not merely directory.
Shall mean to give, place, expose, deposit, distribute or
scatter any edible material with the intention of feeding, attracting
or enticing feral cats.
Shall mean wild cats that run loose that are not spayed/neutered
nor properly inoculated against rabies.
Shall mean any individual, corporation, company, partnership,
firm, association, or political subdivision of this State subject
to municipal jurisdiction.
[Ord. No. 06-18-OAB § 3]
No person shall feed any feral cat within the Township of Berkeley
without affirmatively insuring that the cat is spayed/neutered and
properly inoculated against rabies. Such duty shall be deemed satisfied
by taking the cat to, a nonprofit animal health control group, a veterinarian
or an Ocean County Board of Health approved veterinary clinic for
the purpose of insuring that the cat is spayed/neutered and properly
inoculated against rabies.
[Ord. No. 06-18-OAB § 4]
a.
This section shall be enforced by the Berkeley Township Police Department,
Ocean County Board of Health, Berkeley Township Code Enforcement Officer
and the Berkeley Township Animal Control. Berkeley Township Animal
Control will assist organizations or programs to spay/neuter Berkeley
Township feral cats.
b.
Prior to issuance of the first summons any person found to be in
violation of this section shall be ordered to cease the feeding immediately.
[Ord. No. 06-18-OAB § 5]
Any person(s) who is found to be in violation of the provisions
of this section shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $500 for
each and every violation. If the violation is of a continuing nature
each and every day during which it continues constitutes a separate
and distinct offense.
