[Amended 9-26-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ANIMAL
Dog or cat, for the purpose of this article.
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
Any person appointed by the Township of Pequannock who possesses
a certification of animal control officer issued by the New Jersey
Department of Health and who shall be responsible for animal control
within the Township of Pequannock pursuant to these regulations.
ANIMAL OF LICENSING AGE
Any dog or cat which has attained the age of seven months
or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
BITE
To seize with the teeth or jaws so as to enter, nip or grip
the person or thing seized; also to cut, wound, pierce or impress
deeply the person or thing seized.
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species, male, female,
or neutered.
DOG
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
IMMEDIATE
The pet solid waste is removed at once, without delay.
KENNEL
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop.
NEUTERED
To render permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of an animal shall include
every person having a right of property (or custody) in such animal
and every person who has such animal in his/her keeping, or who harbors
or maintains an animal or knowingly permits an animal to remain on
or about any premises occupied by that person. A person shall be deemed
to have an animal in his keeping or under his control whenever the
ownership or custody of such animal is in an unemancipated infant
or other member of his/her household.
OWNER'S PREMISES
Includes the building or plot of land on which said building
stands in which the owner of an animal has a place of abode or place
of business in the Township.
PERSON
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association
of persons, or institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
PET
A domesticated animal (other than a disability assistance
animal) kept for amusement or companionship.
PET SHOP
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein animals for sale are kept or displayed.
PET SOLID WASTE
Waste matter expelled from the bowels of the pet; excrement.
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of animals seized either
under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
PROPER DISPOSAL
Placement in a designated waste receptacle, or other suitable
container, and discarded in a refuse container which is regularly
emptied by the municipality or some other refuse collector, or disposal
into a system designed to convey domestic sewage for proper treatment
and disposal.
SHELTER
Any establishment where animals are received, housed, and
distributed.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Pequannock, in the County of Morris.
VICIOUS ANIMAL
Any animal which at any time, without provocation, has attacked
or shall attack a human being or another domestic pet, either while
upon or off the premises occupied by the person owning, keeping, harboring
or having the custody or possession of the attacking animal. "Vicious
animal" shall also mean and include any animal which has caused any
human being engaged in a lawful activity or occupancy to be fearful
for his own safety by chasing or snapping at such person without provocation.
No person shall keep or harbor or suffer the keeping or harboring
within the limits of the Township of Pequannock of any dog or cat
of licensing age without first obtaining a license therefor to be
issued by the Health Department of the Township of Pequannock upon
application by the owner or some person on behalf of the owner and
payment of the prescribed fee, and no person shall keep or harbor
any dog or cat in the Township except in compliance with the provisions
for the control of animals contained in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1 through
4:19-15.29 and any amendments thereof.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any
duty under this article is hereby authorized to go upon any premises
to seize for impounding any animal or animals which he may lawfully
seize and impound when such officer is the immediate pursuit of such
animal or animals, except upon the premises of the owner of the animal
if said owner is present and forbids the same.
[Amended 9-26-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22]
A. No person shall suffer, permit
or allow any animal to injure or damage or soil or defile any lawn
or shrubbery or flowers or grounds, or any property, either public
or private, of any person other than that of its owner. All pet owners
and keepers are required to immediately and properly dispose of their
pet's solid waste deposited on any property, public or private, not
owned or possessed by that person, except for any owner or keeper
who requires the use of a disability assistance animal who shall be
exempt from this subsection while the animal is being used for that
purpose.
B. No person shall suffer, permit,
or allow any dog to be upon any private or public property other than
the premises of the owner without the consent of the owner or tenant
of the private or public property or permit the dog to run unleashed
off the premises of the owner.
Chapter
307 of the laws of the State of New Jersey 1989 (N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 through 4:19-35 et seq.) and the amendments and supplements thereto are hereby adopted, enacted and incorporated herein.
No person shall keep within the Township any dog causing a nuisance
and disturbing the peace and quiet of the neighborhood in which it
shall be kept by chronically howling, barking and/or making and causing
other sounds or noises.
[Amended 9-25-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-19; 5-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-19; 7-24-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-25; 4-22-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-08]
The fees provided in Chapter
152, Fees, shall be paid to the Township of Pequannock for compliance with this article.
[Amended 9-26-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22]
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by the Pequannock
Township Health Department and/or Animal Control Officer. No person
shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered
to perform any duty under this article.
[Amended 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-32; 7-24-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-25; 10-27-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-21; 8-9-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-11]
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with
the provisions of this article shall be subject to a fine of not less
than $50 nor more than $500 for each offense, except:
A. Dogs running at large, wherein
the first offense shall be $50, the second offense shall be $150,
and the third and subsequent offenses shall be $200.
B. Fines for unlicensed dogs and/or
cats shall be no more than $50 per animal plus court costs per animal
payable through the Violations Bureau for the first offense and a
fine of not more than $500 for each subsequent offense.
C. The penalty for failure to immediately
and properly dispose of a pet's solid waste shall be $100 for the
first offense, $250 for the second offense, and $500 for the third
offense and any subsequent offense.