[Adopted 3-16-1927 by Ord. No. 7-1927]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Article III of this chapter for provisions regarding vicious and potentially dangerous dogs.
[Amended 12-7-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]
Every person who shall own or keep a dog or dogs within the limits of the Borough of Lawnside for a period of 15 days or more shall, for the purpose of this article, be deemed to be the owner of the dog or dogs possessed.
[Amended 10-1-1958 by Ord. No. 55-1958; 11-3-1976 by Ord. No. 9-1976; 1-12-1983 by Ord. No. 8-1982; 12-2-1998 by Ord. No. 7-FY1999; 6-2-1999 by Ord. No. 17-FY1999; 6-5-2002 by Ord. No. 13-FY2002; 5-2-2007 by Ord. No. 10-FY2007; 11-7-2018 by Ord. No. 13-2018; 12-7-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022[1]]
Every person who shall own or keep a dog or dogs, male or female, of licensing age, within the limits of the Borough of Lawnside shall submit an animal registration application to the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the governing body to license dogs annually, by April 15 of each year.
A. 
Animal registration application shall give:
(1) 
Applicant name, address, contact phone number and email address.
(2) 
Animal name, breed, color, sex, markings, and indicate whether the dog is short- or long-haired.
(3) 
Evidence of rabies vaccination or certification of exemption required for license. The rabies vaccination shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
(a) 
The Borough Clerk or other official designated by the governing body of any municipality to license dogs therein shall grant any such license and official registration tag for any dog unless the owner thereof provides evidence that the dog to be licensed and registered has a rabies vaccination approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendation of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Human Services or has been certified exempt as provided by § 61-42 of this chapter. The rabies vaccination shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
B. 
Time for applying for license. The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age shall make an animal registration application for a license tag for such dog within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping a dog within the Borough of Lawnside for no longer than 30 days.
C. 
Dogs brought into jurisdiction of the Borough of Lawnside.
(1) 
Any person who shall bring any dog or dogs licensed or unlicensed from another state for the current year shall apply for a Borough of Lawnside animal registration tag within 10 days.
(2) 
Any valid New Jersey animal license tag issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be accepted by the Borough of Lawnside as evidence of compliance for the current year.
D. 
License fee schedule.
(1) 
The said applicant shall pay an annual animal license registration fee of $22 for each spayed or neutered dog.
(2) 
The said applicant shall pay an annual animal license registration fee of $25 for each nonspayed or nonneutered dog.
(3) 
All fees shall be received by the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the governing body to license dogs in the municipality by April 15 of each year.
E. 
Animal license and registration tags.
(1) 
An animal license and registration tag with the municipality name, licensing year, and a serial number shall be issued to the applicant for each dog after payment has been received by the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the governing body to license dogs in the municipality.
(2) 
Animal license and registration tags shall expire on December 31 of the licensing year.
(3) 
Only one animal license and registration tag shall be required in the licensing year for any dog in the Borough of Lawnside.
(4) 
Duplicate registration tags shall be issued after the Borough Clerk or other official designated by the governing body to license dogs in the municipality has received a request in writing by the animal owner or any member of the household above the age of 16 years old and $1 payment for the substitute tag due to loss or damage of the original tag.
F. 
Proof of licensing. Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a dog upon the request of any Board of Health officer, police officer, Animal Control Officer or other authorized person.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance relocated the text of former § 61-2, Determination of owner, to precede all other sections in this article. To accommodate the consecutive numbering of the Code, former § 61-1, regarding licensing/registration and fees, has been renumbered as § 61-2.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 61-3, Issuance of license and tag; substitute tags, and § 61-4, Time of licensing, as amended 11-3-1976 by Ord. No. 9-1976, were repealed 12-7-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022.
[Amended 11-3-1976 by Ord. No. 9-1976]
Any owner who shall suffer an unlicensed dog to run at large or who shall suffer any dog, whether licensed or not, to run at large without the tag herein provided for, or shall cause or permit any unlicensed dog to wear such tag, shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a penalty as provided for in § 61-13 of this Article.
Any dog or dogs not licensed pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall be subject to seizure by any person appointed for that purpose by the Borough Council of the Borough of Lawnside, and if not redeemed as hereinafter provided within 48 hours after being seized, may be killed or otherwise disposed of, and any dog that shall not have securely fixed or fastened as aforesaid the tag issued with the license for such dog shall be deemed to be unlicensed and subject to seizure.
Any owner of a dog which may have been seized under the provisions of this Article shall, upon establishing ownership thereof to the satisfaction of the Borough Clerk as provided by § 61-3 of this Article, be entitled to reclaim or redeem such dog upon payment to the Borough Treasurer through the Borough Clerk of the penalty fixed for the violation of the section hereof violated by such person, and if no such section has been violated, then upon the payment of the sum of $2; provided, however, that such claim shall be made and established by such owner before the dog shall have been killed or otherwise disposed of as provided in the preceding section hereof.
Any dog or dogs which shall run at large upon any of the streets or public places of the Borough of Lawnside or upon the property of any other person at any time without being muzzled with a wire muzzle may be impounded by any duly authorized dogcatcher and be destroyed at any time not less than 48 hours from its capture unless the owner thereof shall before its destruction redeem said dog and, if unlicensed, pay the penalty herein provided and immediately muzzle the same as herein set forth; provided that any licensed dog as provided by this Article shall, when caught by any duly authorized dogcatcher, be held not less than seven days and its owner notified by the said dogcatcher immediately after its capture that it may be redeemed before being destroyed. Such notice shall be deemed sufficient if made on a United States postal card and said card deposited in a United States mailbox, addressed to the same address as that given on the application for the license.
A. 
The Borough Council of the Borough of Lawnside may by resolution appoint at such times and for such terms as may from time to time seem expedient one or more persons as dogcatchers, whose duty it shall be to seize and impound all dogs found being kept or harbored or running at large and liable to seizure under the provisions of this Article and put to death or cause to be put to death as humanely as possible and to be removed from the borough or buried all such dogs not redeemed in accordance with the provisions hereof.
B. 
The compensation of such dogcatcher or dogcatchers shall be fixed by resolution at the time of his or their appointment.[1] The Borough Council of the Borough of Lawnside may enter into a contract or agreement with a person or persons, firm or corporation for the doing of any or all of the things set forth in this section.
[1]
Editor's Note: As to salaries and compensation, see Ch. 3, Art. VIII.
[Amended 11-3-1976 by Ord. No. 9-1976]
Any person or persons who shall hinder, interfere with or molest any duly authorized dogcatcher or assistant employed by him or any police officer of the Borough of Lawnside in the performance of any duty enjoined by this Article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a penalty as provided for in § 61-13 of this Article.
No vicious dog (whether registered and licensed or not) shall be permitted by the owner or person harboring same to be in or upon any public street or public place in the Borough of Lawnside at any time or to trespass upon the property of another. The duly authorized dogcatcher or any police officer of the Borough of Lawnside may and such persons are hereby empowered to destroy and kill any vicious dog, whether licensed or not. Any dog biting any person or other animal shall be deemed vicious within the meaning of this section.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Article III of this chapter for additional provisions pertaining to vicious dogs.
[Amended 11-3-1976 by Ord. No. 9-1976; 2-3-1988 by Ord. No. 2-1988]
Any person or corporation who shall board dogs for hire or engage in the business of breeding or raising dogs for sale shall be deemed and considered as keeping a kennel, and any person who shall keep a kennel in the Borough of Lawnside without first obtaining a license to do so shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a penalty as provided for in § 61-13 of this Article. The Borough Clerk, after approval by the Board of Health, shall issue a license to keep a kennel. The license fee thereof shall be the sum of $10 per calendar year or fraction thereof.
For the purpose of this section of the chapter, no person or corporation shall board more than two dogs.
[Amended 11-3-1976 by Ord. No. 9-1976; 12-7-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]
A. 
Except as otherwise provided in this article, any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this article shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $100 for each offense, to be recovered by the Borough of Lawnside. Said penalty amount shall be assessed per nonlicensed dog.
B. 
Any person who does not secure the required license in accordance with the provisions herein by April 15 shall be assessed a late fee of $20 at the time of application. Said fee shall be assessed per dog.
A. 
No person who owns, keeps, harbors, walks or has custody of a dog shall permit, cause, suffer or allow such dog to defecate upon, soil, defile or commit any nuisance of any kind on any public or private property without the express permission of the owner of such property.
B. 
In the event a dog shall soil, defile or defecate upon any public or private property, the owner, keeper, harborer and/or person having custody of said dog, shall immediately remove and sanitarily dispose of said dog's feces and droppings deposited by such dog, which removal shall be by a shovel, container, disposal bag or any other sanitary manner.
C. 
A person who owns, keeps, harbors or has custody of a dog shall maintain such person's property in a sanitary manner so as to prevent any noxious odors, attraction of insects, attraction of vermin breeders and any other public health nuisance.
D. 
Any person or entity found guilty of violating this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $200. It shall be a defense to a conviction for violation of this section if the person, or entity, in question has complied with subsection B of this section.