The relevant statutory provisions are found in R.S. 4:19-15,
et seq.
[Ord. 176]
As used in this chapter:
AT LARGE
Shall mean off the premises of the owner, and not under the
control of the owner or a member of the owner's family either by leash,
cord, chain or otherwise.
DOG
Shall mean both male and female, bitch or spayed bitch.
DOG OF LICENSING AGE
Shall mean any dog which has attained the age of seven months
or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
OWNER
Shall mean any person who owns or has a right of property
in such dog.
POUND
Shall mean any establishment for the confinement of dogs,
seized either under the provisions of this chapter, state statutes
or otherwise.
VICIOUS DOG
Shall mean any dog which has attacked or bitten any human
being or has caused any person to be fearful for his own safety by
chasing, worrying, or otherwise, or which has habitually attacked
other dogs or domestic animals.
[Ord. 176; Ord. 260; New; Ord. 305; Ord. 321; Ord. 328; Ord. 343; Ord. 344; Ord. 681]
Licenses and official metal registration tags shall be required
for the following dogs of licensing age:
a. Any dog owned or kept within the borough by a resident of the borough
on January 1 of any calendar year.
b. Any dog acquired by any person during the course of any calendar
year and kept within the borough for more than 10 days after acquisition.
c. Any dog attaining licensing age during the course of the calendar
year.
d. Any unlicensed dog brought into the borough by any person and kept
within the borough for more than 10 days.
e. Any dog licensed by another state brought into the borough by any
person and kept within the borough for more than 90 days.
Each application for a license under this section shall be signed
by the owner or keeper of the dog, and shall give the following information:
a. A general description of the dog sought to be licensed, including
breed, sex, age, color and markings, and whether such dog is of a
long or short-haired variety.
b. Name, street and post office address of the owner and of the person
who shall keep or harbor such dog.
c. Evidence of rabies vaccination in accordance with section
6-4.
No license to own, keep or harbor a dog shall be issued to or
in the name of a minor.
Applications for licenses for dogs which are required to be licensed by the provisions of subsection
6-2.1 shall be made in the month of January of each calendar year to the municipal clerk or other official designated by the governing body. In all other cases, the application for a license shall be made within 10 days of the day upon which the dog in question first becomes subject to the provisions of this section.
The information on all applications under this section and the
registration number issued to each licensed dog shall be preserved
for a period of three years by the borough clerk. In addition, he
shall forward similar information to the State Department of Health
each month on forms furnished by the department.
The person applying for a license shall pay a fee of $13.80
for each dog. The person shall also pay $1.20 for the registration
tag for each dog and an additional fee of $3 for any dog of reproductive
age which has not had its reproductive capacity permanently altered
through sterilization. Any person claiming to be exempt from such
additional fee of $3 shall provide a copy of a veterinarian's certificate
of neutering. The fees of $1.20 and the additional fee of $3 when
collected shall be forwarded to the state treasurer as provided by
law. The same fee shall be charged for the annual renewal of each
license and registration tag.
a. If application shall not be made during January, there shall be a
late charge, as follows:
1. If application is made during February: $5.
Each dog license and registration tag shall expire on January
31 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which it was
issued.
a. Dogs used as guide dogs for blind persons and commonly known as "seeing
eye" dogs and dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly known
as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other dogs,
except that the owner or keeper shall not be required to pay any fee.
b. Any dog owned in New Jersey and duly licensed for the current licensed
year and bearing the proper registration tag for a New Jersey municipality
shall be exempt from the license and the tag provisions of this section.
No dog shall run at large at any time within the limits of the
borough.
No dog shall be permitted off the premises of the person owning,
keeping or harboring it unless accompanied by a person who is capable
of controlling it and who has the dog securely confined and controlled
by an adequate leash or chain not more than six feet long.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit or
suffer it to do any injury, or to do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery,
flowers, grounds or property of persons other than the owner or person
having the care, custody and control of such dog.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit or
suffer it to soil or defile or commit any nuisance upon any sidewalk,
street or thoroughfare, or in or upon any public property or place.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit or
suffer it to cause any injury to any person.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually
barks or cries.
All dogs for which licenses are required by the provisions of
this chapter shall wear a collar or harness with the registration
tag securely fastened thereto.
No person shall own, possess, harbor or keep any dog within
the boundaries of the borough, over six months of age, unless the
dog has been inoculated against rabies. However, any dog may be exempt
from the inoculation requirement, for a specified period of time,
by the board of health upon the presentation of a certificate from
a duly licensed veterinarian stating that because of infirmity or
other physical condition, the inoculation of the dog for a specified
period of time, is contraindicated.
Any person, owning, keeping, harboring or having custody of
a dog shall obtain from the veterinarian who vaccinates the dog against
rabies, a certificate on a form supplied by the health officer and
available at the office of secretary of the board of health, and shall,
within 10 days of the vaccination, or within 10 days after bringing
the dog into the borough, if the dog was vaccinated before being brought
into the borough, deliver the certificate to the office of the secretary
of the board of health, who shall file it with the records of the
board of health.
No license required for the owning and keeping of dogs, by virtue
of any state law or borough ordinance, shall be issued to any person,
unless a certificate issued by a duly licensed veterinarian of the
State of New Jersey, as provided in subsection 6.4.2, is presented
to and filed with the office of the secretary of the board of health
showing that such dog has been vaccinated against rabies in the manner
provided herein, and that the vaccination has been made within six
months from the date of the filing of the application for a license.
The board of health is hereby authorized and empowered to provide free vaccination of dogs at a suitable clinic and place designated by it, to be conducted by a licensed veterinarian of the State of New Jersey. The board of health is hereby further authorized and empowered to make and adopt such rules and regulations, consistent with the terms and provisions of section
6-4, as it may deem proper and necessary for its enforcement.
Should any person owning a dog or dogs omit or refuse to have such dog or dogs inoculated under the provisions of subsection
6-4.1, then, each day following the time when the inoculation should have been made as provided in section
6-4, shall constitute a separate offense.
[Ord. 176]
The chief of police of the borough shall annually cause a canvass
to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the limits of
the borough in accordance with R.S. 4:19-15.15, and make reports required
under that statute.
[New; Ord. 343]
License fees and other moneys collected or received under the
provisions of this chapter, except the registration tag fees, shall
be forwarded to the borough treasurer within 30 days after collection
or receipt, and shall be placed in a special account separate from
any of the other accounts of the borough and shall be used for the
following purposes only: collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs
liable to seizure under this chapter; local prevention and control
of rabies; providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction of
the local board of health for any person known or suspected to have
been exposed to rabies; 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 the third fiscal
year following and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in
this section. At the end of the 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 borough 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.
The registration tag fee of $1.20 for each dog and the additional
sterilization fee of $3 where required for non-sterilized dogs shall
be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the registrar to the
state treasurer as provided by law.
[New]
Where it has been determined by a physician that a person has
been bitten by a dog, such individual, or his parent or guardian if
he is a minor, shall immediately notify the police. When the owner
or keeper of any dog shall be notified by the police that the dog
has bitten any individual, the owner or keeper of the dog must comply
with the following procedures:
Have the dog examined by a licensed veterinarian within 12 hours.
Have the dog kept in quarantine in the owner's home or at a
kennel for a period of 10 days.
At the end of 10 days have the dog re-examined by a veterinarian
and a written report of the dog's state of health sent to the health
department.
It shall be the duty of the chief of police, or other officer
in charge, or animal warden, to receive and investigate complaints
against dogs, and when any dog complained against shall be deemed
by such chief of police, or other designated officer, to be a vicious
dog, as herein defined, the officer shall notify the owner or person
harboring such dog directing the owner or person harboring such dog
to take the dog for examination to a veterinarian, the examination
to be at the expense of the owner or person harboring the dog; failure
of the owner or person harboring the dog to comply with the notice
given shall constitute a violation of this section. The officer shall
report his findings to the municipal judge.
The municipal judge shall notify in writing the owner or keeper of an alledgedly vicious dog that a complaint has been made and require such person to appear before him at a stated time and place for a hearing. The judge, at the time set for the hearing, shall inquire into the facts and give all interested persons an opportunity to be heard, under oath, and to be represented by counsel. He shall decide in accordance with the evidence before him, and if he shall decide that such dog complained of is a vicious dog, as defined in section
6-1, notice of such decision shall be given to the owner or person harboring such dog.
No dog which has been so determined to be a vicious dog shall
be permitted to run at large, or to be upon any street or public place
in the borough, except while securely muzzled, and under leash, and
the owner or person harboring any such vicious dog who shall suffer
or permit such dog to run at large or be upon any street or public
place in the borough, while not so securely muzzled and under leash,
shall be guilty of a violation of this section.
[Ord. 176]
It shall be the duty of the chief of police and every police
officer, as well as the poundkeeper, to enforce the provisions of
this chapter and to take into custody and impound, or cause to be
taken into custody and impounded the following:
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, which the official or his agent have reason to believe is
a stray dog.
c. Any
dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring
the dog which is not controlled by a leash or chain as provided in
this chapter.
d. Any
dog with fierce, dangerous or vicious propensities or noticeably infected
with rabies or bitten by a dog suspected of having rabies.
e. Any
dog running at large off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring the dog, without a current registration tag on
the dog's collar.
f. Any
female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring the dog.
g. Any dog in violation of section
6-4.
Any dog seized under the provisions of this chapter shall be
handled and disposed of with proper notices given, as required by
R.S. 4:19-15.16.
[Ord. 176; Ord. 264; New]
The mayor shall nominate and, with the advice and consent of
council, appoint a poundkeeper to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Such poundkeeper shall be exempt from any residency requirement within
the borough.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized
or empowered to perform any duty under this chapter.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any
duty under this chapter is hereby authorized to go upon any premises
to seize for impounding any dog which he may lawfully seize and impound
when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such dog, except upon
the premises of the owner of the dog, if the owner is present and
forbids same.
[Ord. 260]
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with section
6-2 shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $5, nor more than $50 for each offense, except that for the first offense, the penalty shall be not less than $1 nor more than $50.
For any other violation of this chapter, the general penalty clause as set forth in section
3-11 of this revision shall apply.
[Ord. 468I; Ord. 471; Ord. 681]
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Shall mean any person or agency designated or certified by
the State of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this section.
CAT
Shall mean any member of the domestic feline species; male,
female, or altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Shall mean any cat which has attained the age of seven months,
or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
CATTERY
Shall mean any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition
pen, not part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
Shall mean the agency or department of the borough or any
designated representative thereof charged with administering the issuance
or revocation of permits and licenses, or both under the provisions
of this section.
NEUTERED
Shall mean rendered permanently incapable of reproduction
as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
Shall mean, when applied to the proprietorship of a cat,
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 owned or occupied by that person.
PERSON
Shall mean 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,
unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions of this
section do not apply to cats held in a cattery, or those held 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 Certificate. A certificate of vaccination shall be issued
to the owner of each cat vaccinated on a form recommended by the state.
d. Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements of such
vaccination for a specified period of time by the local board of health,
upon presentation of a veterinarian's certificate stating that because
of an infirmity or other physical condition or regimen of therapy,
the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
a. Cats Must Have License Number Displayed. Any person who shall own,
keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall annually apply for and
procure from the clerk of the municipality, or other official designated
by the governing body a license and official registration tag with
license number, or a registration sleeve for each cat so owned, kept,
or harbored, and shall place upon such cat a collar, or other device
with the license number securely fastened or displayed thereto. Acceptable
methods of displaying license number shall include, but are not limited
to, break-away or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves are not
transferable.
b. Time for Applying for License. The owner of any newly acquired cat
of licensing age, or of any cat which attains licensing age, shall
make application for license tags or sleeve for such cat within 10
days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will
not apply to a non-resident keeping a cat within the borough for no
longer than 90 days.
c. Cats Brought into Jurisdiction. Any person who shall bring, or cause
to be brought into the borough, any cat licensed in another state
for the current year, and bearing a registration tag or sleeve, and
shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the borough
for a period of more than 90 days, shall immediately apply for a license
and registration tag or sleeve for such cat.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into this
borough any unlicensed cat, and shall keep same or permit same to
be kept within the borough for a period of more than 10 days, shall
immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for
each such cat.
d. Application, Contents, Preservation of Information. The application
shall state the breed, sex, age, color, and markings of the cat for
which the license and registration are sought, and whether it is of
a long or shorthaired variety; also the name, street, and post office
address of the owner, and the person who shall keep or harbor such
cat. The information on said application and the registration number
issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three years
by the clerk or other local official designated to license cats in
the municipality.
e. License Forms and Tags. License forms and official tags or sleeves
shall be furnished by the municipality and shall be numbered serially,
and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
f. Evidence of Inoculation with Rabies Vaccine or Certification of Exemption; Requirement for License. No municipal clerk or other official designated by the governing body of any municipality to license cats therein shall issue any such license and official registration tag or sleeve for any cat, unless the owner thereof provides evidence that the cat to be licensed and registered has been inoculated with a rabies vaccination of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Human Services, or has been certified exempt as provided by subsection
6-12.2 of this section. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian, or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
g. License Fee Schedule. The person applying for a license shall pay
a fee of $10 for each cat. The person shall pay an additional fee
of $3 for any cat of reproduction age which has not had its reproductive
capacity altered through sterilization. Any person claiming to be
exempt from such additional fee of $3 shall provide a copy of the
veterinarian's certificate of neutering.
1. If application shall not be made during January, there shall be a
late charge, as follows:
(a)
If application is made during February: $5.
(b)
If application is made during March: $10.
(c)
If application is made after March 31: $15.
h. Fees, Renewals, Expiration Date of License. The person applying for
the license and registration tag or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed
or authorized. The fee for the renewal of license and registration
tag or sleeve shall be the same as for the original, and said license,
registration tag or sleeve and renewal thereof shall expire on January
31, in the following year.
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required
in the licensing year for any cat in this borough. Any valid New Jersey
license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be
accepted by the borough as evidence of compliance.
i. Loss of License. If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced or
lost, the borough clerk may issue a duplicate license tag or registration
sleeve for that particular cat at a fee of $5.
j. Proof of Licensing. Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person
owning, keeping, maintaining, or harboring a cat, upon the request
of any health official, police officer, animal control officer, or
other authorized person.
k. Interfering with Persons Performing Duties Under this Section. No
person shall hinder, molest, or interfere with anyone authorized or
empowered to perform any duty under this section.
l. Disposition of Fees Collected. License fees and other moneys collected
or received under the provisions of this section, shall be forwarded
to the treasurer of the municipality, and shall be deposited in the
current fund account and shall be used for the following purposes
only: collecting, keeping, and disposing of cats liable to seizure,
for local prevention and control of rabies, providing anti-rabies
treatment under the direction of the local board of health for any
person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies, and for
administering the provisions of this section.
a. Violations of Section; Penalty. Except as otherwise provided in this
section, any person who violates, or who fails, or refuses to comply
with this section, shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $10,
nor more than $50, for each offense, to be recovered by and in the
name of the local board of health, or by and in the name of the municipality.
All other ordinances of the borough which are in conflict with
this section are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.
If any part of this section shall be invalid, such parts shall
be deemed severable and the invalidity thereof shall not affect the
remaining part of this section.
This section shall be in full force and effect on May 31, 1990,
after its passage and publication.
The purpose of this section is to protect the health, safety
and welfare of all those frequenting this borough by preventing the
needless health hazards and nuisances caused by dog feces upon public
and private property located within the borough.
No person, agency or institution owning, harboring, keeping
or in charge of any dog shall cause, suffer or allow such dog to soil,
defile, defecate or commit any nuisance upon any public or private
property whatsoever, except with the express authority or permission
of the owner of the property.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection
6-13.2 above, it shall be permissible for the person in control of any dog or dogs to allow said dog to deposit feces between the right-of-way lines of any public street under and subject to the following conditions:
a. The person in control of said dog or dogs shall have in his or her
possession appropriate sanitary means by which he or she can collect
and remove any feces deposited by said dog or dogs.
b. The person in control of said dog or dogs shall immediately remove
all feces deposited by said dog or dogs in a sanitary manner and shall
dispose of all such feces in a sanitary manner and in a way so as
not to interfere with the rights of others.
c. The provisions of this subsection
6-13.3 shall not apply to a "seeing-eye" dog which is in the sole control of a blind person.
Complaints against violators of this section may be filed by
any citizen as well as by an officer of the police force or the animal
control officer.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this section shall
be subject to a fine not exceeding $100 for each offense. For the
purpose of this section each day that a particular violation occurs
will be considered to be a separate offense.
[Ord. No. 806]
As used in this section:
ANIMAL CARE FACILITY
Means an animal control center or animal shelter, maintained
by or under contract with any state, county, or municipality, whose
mission and practice is, in whole, or significant part, the rescue
and placement of animals in permanent homes or rescue organizations.
ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATION
Means any not-for-profit organization which has tax-exempt
status under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue
Code, whose mission and practice is, in whole or in significant part,
the rescue and placement of animals in permanent homes.
CAT
Means a member of the species of domestic cat, Felis catus.
DOG
Means a member of the species of domestic dog, Canis familiaris.
OFFER FOR SALE
Means to sell, offer for sale or adoption, advertise for
the sale of, barter, auction, give away or otherwise dispose of a
dog or cat.
PET SHOP
Means a retail establishment where dogs and cats are sold,
exchanged, bartered or offered for sale as pet animals to the general
public at retail. Such definition shall not include an animal care
facility or animal rescue organization, as defined.
[Ord. No. 806]
No pet shop shall sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction,
give away, or otherwise transfer or dispose of cats or dogs. Nothing
in this section shall prohibit pet stores from collaborating with
animal care facilities or animal rescue organizations to offer space
for such entities to showcase adoptable dogs and cats.
[Ord. No. 806]
This section will not affect a consumer's ability to obtain
a dog or cat of his or her choice directly from a breed-specific rescue
organization or a shelter, or from a hobby breeder where the consumer
can observe the conditions in which the dogs or cats are bred, or
can confer directly with the hobby breeder concerning those conditions.
[Ord. No. 806]
a. The operator of any establishment convicted for violating the terms
of this section shall be subject to the following fines:
1. First offense - $100, per animal, sold or offered to be sold.
2. Second or subsequent offenses - $500, per animal sold or offered
to be sold.
3. In the event of a second or subsequent conviction for this offense,
the court may require the establishment to cease all retail operations
until such time as all animals in custody are relocated to an animal
care facility or animal rescue organization.