Editor's Note: Prior ordinances codified herein include portions of Ordinance Nos. 8, 67, 109, 348, 394, 417, 428, 467, 494 and 584.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
a. 
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER - Shall mean any person or agency authorized by the Borough of Union Beach to provide animal control services.
b. 
DOG - Shall mean any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
c. 
DOG OF LICENSING AGE - Shall mean any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
d. 
KENNEL - Shall mean any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a pet shop.
e. 
LICENSING AUTHORITY - Shall mean the agency or department of the Borough of Union Beach, or any designated representative thereof, charged with administering the issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions of this chapter.
f. 
NEUTERED - Shall mean a dog or other animal which has been rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
g. 
OWNER WHEN APPLIED TO THE PROPRIETORSHIP OF A DOG OR OTHER ANIMAL - Shall include every person having a right of property in such dog or animal and every person who has such dog or animal in his or her care, custody or control.
h. 
PET SHOP - Shall mean any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
i. 
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS DOG - Shall mean, but is not limited to, any dog or dog hybrid declared to be potentially dangerous and/or vicious by a panel convened by the chief law enforcement officer or municipal health officer pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-21, and is found to be either potentially dangerous or vicious in accordance with state law.
j. 
POUND - Shall mean an establishment for the confinement of animals including but not limited to dogs, seized either under the provisions of this act or otherwise.
k. 
SHELTER - Shall mean any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed.
[Amended 6-20-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-345]
Every person who owns, harbors or possesses one or more dogs which have attained licensing age, which is defined as a dog of the age of seven months or which possesses permanent set(s) of teeth shall procure a yearly license for each such dog.
No owner is allowed to have any more than three dogs.
a. 
Time for Applying for License. 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 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment, and every person who harbors or possesses any dog for a period of 10 or more days shall, for purposes of this chapter, be deemed to be the owner of the dog so harbored and possessed.
b. 
Every dog shall always bear evidence of such license in accordance with the law of the State of New Jersey. The annual fee for the license shall be $10.00, for each dog which has been spayed or neutered. In addition, thereto there shall be a $3.00 surcharge on all licenses issued for non-spayed or non-neutered dogs of reproductive age which have not had the reproductive capacity permanently altered through sterilization. The license shall be issued by the Board of Health of the Borough. The licenses, registration tags and the renewals thereof shall expire on the last of January each year. In addition to the annual fee for license, there shall be a late charge of $15.00 assessed against the owner of any dog not licensed within the time specified herein. Each dog shall be required to be vaccinated for protection against rabies. Evidence of such vaccination shall be presented upon applying for the license and registration tags.
c. 
A person applying for a potentially dangerous dog license shall pay to the borough the sum of $700 for the licensing of each dog, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-31, as well as the additional sums fixed under N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.3. The fees collected under this provision shall be deposited in a special account as required by N.J.S.A. 4:19-35, to be used by the Borough of Union Beach to administer and enforce the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 through 37, which govern the regulation of potentially dangerous or vicious dogs.
d. 
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "seeing-eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons or which are commonly known as "service" dogs, or dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly known as "hearing ear" dogs, shall be licensed and registered as other dogs herein above provided for, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not be required to pay any fee, as per the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15-31.
e. 
The licenses shall be issued by the board of health of the borough. The licenses, registration tags and the renewals thereof shall expire on the last day of January each year. In addition to the annual fee for license, there shall be a late charge of $10 assessed against the owner of any dog not licensed after January 31. Each and every dog shall be required to be vaccinated for protection against rabies. Evidence of such vaccination shall be presented upon applying for the license and registration tags.
f. 
A numbered metal tag shall be issued along with the license, which the owner shall securely affix or fasten to a strap or collar to be worn about the neck of the dog so licensed; and which tag shall have stamped thereon the words, "Licensed Dog, Union Beach, N.J." with the year for which issued. Substitute tags shall be issued only upon satisfactory proof in writing by the owner or a member of the household above the age of 14 years, to the secretary of the Board of Health of the loss of the original tag and on payment to the Secretary of the Board of Health, of the sum of $1.
a. 
No dog shall run at large at any time in the borough.
b. 
No animals allowed to run at large on the beachfront or walkway.
c. 
Any dog off the premises of the person owning, keeping, or harboring it shall be accompanied by a person who is capable of controlling it and who has the dog securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
d. 
No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any dog shall permit the dog to soil or defile, or to commit any nuisance upon any sidewalk, in or upon any public property, or in or upon the property of persons other than the owner or person having the care, custody or control of the dog.
e. 
Removal by Owner. Any person owning or in charge of any animal which soils, defiles, defecates on, or commits any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, bypath, play area, park, or any place where people congregate or walk, or upon any public property whatsoever, or upon any private property, without the permission of the owner of the property, shall immediately remove in a sanitary manner all feces deposited by any such animal.
f. 
In no instance shall any feces deposited by any such animal create a nuisance as defined by the Public Health Nuisance Code as adopted by the Borough of Union Beach.
g. 
In no instance shall any feces deposited by any such animal upon the property of the owner of such animal remain for a period of greater than 24 hours.
h. 
Disposal. The feces removed from the aforementioned designated areas shall be disposed of by the person owning or in charge of any animal in a sealed, nonabsorbent, leak proof container.
i. 
No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any dog shall suffer or permit it to soil or defile, or to do any injury or damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, ground, trees or any property of persons other than the owner or person having care, custody or control of the dog.
j. 
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries so as to disturb the public peace.
k. 
The owner or custodian of any dog shall be responsible for any damage done by the dog.
If a dog or other animal bites a person, or another animal within the Borough of Union Beach, it shall be reported to the health officer pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:4-78 et seq. The health officer shall then order a period of quarantine or other action pursuant with N.J.S.A. 26:4-78 et seq.
The ACO or any other person appointed for the purpose shall take into custody and impound, destroy or dispose of as provided in this section:
a. 
Any dog running at large in the borough;
b. 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the dog without a current registration tag on his collar and not controlled by a leash as provided in this section;
c. 
Any female in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog;
d. 
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven days after seizure, when notice cannot be given in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, and if the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not claimed the dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of a seizure and detention, and if the dog be unlicensed at the time of the seizure, and the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not produced a license and registration tag for said dog, the ACO, or other designated authority, may cause the dog to be destroyed in manner as specified by N.J.S.A. 4:22-19(b).
Any person who violates any provisions of this chapter shall be liable to a penalty of $20 for the first offense, $35 for the second offense, $50 for the third offense, $65 for the fourth offense, thereafter, for each additional offense the sum of $15 shall be added, and upon failure to pay the fine and the costs and charges incident thereto may be imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceeding 10 days in the case of the first conviction, and in the case of a conviction for a second subsequent or continuing violation, for a period not exceeding 30 days.