[HISTORY: 1968 Code Chapter 5 §§ 5-1 —
5-7 as amended through 12-28-2015. Amendments noted where applicable.]
For the purpose of this ordinance, animal shall mean cat.
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this ordinance.
Any member of the domestic feline species; male, female or
altered.
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any room or group of rooms, cage, or exhibition pen, not
part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
The agency or department of the Borough of Wildwood Crest
or any designated representative thereof charged with administering
the issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions
of this ordinance.
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
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.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
A.
Vaccination
and license requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor, or maintain
any cat over seven months of age within the Borough of Wildwood Crest,
unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions of the
section do not apply to cats held in a cattery, or those by a state
or federal licensed 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 Section
(d).
C.
Vaccination
certificates. A certificate of vaccination shall be issued to the
owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended by the state.
A.
No
person shall keep or harbor any cat within the Borough of Wildwood
Crest, in the County of Cape May, without first obtaining a license
therefor. Said license to be issued by the Tax Collector of the borough
upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and
no person shall keep or harbor any cat in the said borough except
in compliance with the provisions with the Article. Specifically exempt
herefrom are cats brought in the borough which shall remain in the
borough for a period of less than 30 days.
B.
Any
person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat shall, in the month of
January of each year, apply for and procure from the Tax Collector
of the Borough a license and official metal 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. The person applying for the license and registration tag
shall pay a fee of $3 for the license for each cat, whether male or
female, plus such additional fees as established by the state and
forwarded to the Department of Health. For each annual renewal, the
fee for license and for registration shall be the same as for the
original license and registration. Said licenses, registrations and
renewals thereof shall expire the last day of January in each year.
No registration shall be issued for any cat whose owner or custodian
fails to produce proof of a current valid rabies vaccination for said
cat; except that any cat may be exempted from the vaccination requirement
for a period of time specified in a veterinarian's certificate
stating that the inoculation shall be inadvisable at this time because
of age, infirmity, or other physical or medical reasons.
C.
All
cats must display the registration tag, or registration number, issued
by the Tax Collector of the borough.
D.
Anyone
who owns, keeps, harbors or maintains a cat within the borough shall
exercise sufficient and proper control and care over such animal at
all times so as to prevent the animal from becoming a public nuisance
or otherwise violating this Article.
A.
Violations
of ordinance; penalty. Except as otherwise provided in this ordinance,
any person who violates, or who fails, or refuses to comply with this
ordinance, shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $50, nor
more than $250, for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name
of the Borough of Wildwood Crest.
B.
A
cat shall be considered a public nuisance if it has no known owner
or custodian, or place of care and shelter, or it habitually trespasses
upon or damages either private or public property or harms lawful
users or occupants thereof or if it causes a definable public health
hazard which is supported by medical documentation.
All other ordinances in the Borough of Wildwood Crest which
are in conflict with the ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent
of such conflict.
If any part of this ordinance shall be invalid, such parts shall
be deemed severable and the invalidity thereof shall not affect the
remaining parts of this ordinance.
This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon final
passage and publication according to law.
