[Amended 11-17-2025 by Ord. No. 19-2025]
Every person who shall own, possess, keep or harbor any dog or dogs within the limits of the Township of Greenwich shall obtain an annual license for each such dog and shall have the same registered and numbered with the Municipal Official. The persons applying for the license and official registration tag shall pay an annual license fee of $10 for each neutered/sprayed dog, or $13 for a nonneutered/nonspayed dog. This fee includes the state registration fee of $1, a State Pilot Clinic Fund fee of $0.20 and the state surcharge of $3 for a nonneutered/nonspayed dog. All such fees shall be paid and collected by the Municipal Official as hereinafter provided.
A. 
Dogs which are possessed or harbored for foster purposes only shall be exempt from annual registration for the first six months they reside in the Township. Proof of such foster arrangements must be provided to the Municipal Official upon placement in a home within Township limits.
Any person who harbors or possesses any dog for a period of 10 days or more shall, for the purpose of this article, be deemed to be the owner of the dog or dogs so harbored or possessed.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "Seeing Eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons and commonly known as "service dogs" and dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly known as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed and registered in the same manner as other dogs, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or of any dog which attains licensing age shall make application for a license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment.
A. 
All applications for dog licenses shall be made to the Township Municipal Official of the Township of Greenwich, who shall provide a log for the purpose of registering the name of the person or persons owning, keeping, possessing or harboring any dog or dogs, and the name of each dog registered, and its number shall be entered therein. Numbers for each application for registration of such dog or dogs shall be in the order in which the applications are made. The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which the license and registration are sought, whether it is of a longhaired or shorthaired variety, and the name, street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog.
B. 
The information on said application and the registration number issued for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Municipal Official of the Township of Greenwich. In addition, he/she shall forward similar information to the State Department of Health and Senior Services each month, on forms furnished by said Department.
A. 
The owner of every dog shall pay the license fees hereinbefore provided to the Municipal Official before the first day of April. After said date, a late charge of $10 will be charged. Upon receipt of said license fee or fees, as the case may be, the Municipal Official shall thereupon issue to each person paying such license fee or fees, and/or late charges, a license for the keeping of such dog or dogs and a short description of the dog, indicating its name, breed, sex, age, color and markings, and also the number on such license, and shall bear the signature of the Municipal Official or his designee. All such licenses shall expire on the last day of January in each year. All dogs must also be up-to-date on rabies vaccines in order for a license to be issued.
B. 
The Municipal Official of the Township of Greenwich shall also issue for each dog licensed a numbered metal tag, designated as a registration tag, which tag shall be securely attached to a strap or collar worn around the neck of each dog so licensed, and each tag shall have marked thereon the words "Licensed Dog, Township of Greenwich, NJ," with the year for which it is issued. The Municipal Official of the Township of Greenwich may issue substitute tags upon proof, in writing, from the owner or member of the owner's household above the age of 14 years, sufficient to satisfy the Municipal Official of the Township of Greenwich of the loss of the original tag. Any owner so obtaining such substitute tag or tags shall pay an additional registration fee of $3 for each such substitute tag.
Every person who shall own, keep, possess or harbor any dog or dogs in the Township of Greenwich who shall neglect or refuse to cause such dog or dogs to be licensed in the manner herein provided on or before the last day of January in each year shall be guilty of a violation of this article; provided, however, that any owner of a dog bringing a dog into the Township of Greenwich which had been licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag, who shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of Greenwich for a period of more than 90 days, shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog unless such dog is licensed under this article, and provided further that any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Greenwich any unlicensed dog and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of Greenwich for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog.
No person, except the Township Official in the performance of his or her duties, shall remove a registration tag from the collar of any dog without the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration tag to a dog for which such tag was not issued.
Any dog owner who shall suffer or permit any unlicensed dog to run at large or who shall suffer or permit any dog, whether licensed or not, to run at large without the tag provided for in this article, or who shall cause or permit any unlicensed dog to wear such a tag, shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
A. 
Any dog or dogs not licensed pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be subject to seizure by the duly appointed Animal Control Officer or any other person or corporation appointed for that purpose by the Township Council and, if not redeemed as hereinafter provided, may be placed up for adoption, euthanized by any approved humane method or otherwise disposed of, and any dog who shall not have securely fixed or fastened to its neck a tag issued with the license for such dog shall be deemed unlicensed and subject to seizure. All dogs seized pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be impounded in a place designated by the Township Council of the Township of Greenwich as the animal shelter and shall be kept there until they are disposed of in accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16.
B. 
Any person owning, keeping or harboring any dog, whether the dog is licensed or unlicensed, who shall suffer or permit said dog to run at large in or about the streets, highways or public places of the Township of Greenwich or to run at large upon lands and premises of any person other than the owner or persons in possession of said dog without permission of said landowner first obtained, in writing, shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
C. 
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit the same to be upon the public places of the Township of Greenwich unless such dog is accompanied by a person of such age and such mental and physical capacity that he or she is able to control said dog by a leash, provided that always, in any case, there shall be leash control of such dog using an adequate leash with not more than 12 feet thereof extended between the person in control of such dog and the dog itself.
D. 
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit or suffer it to do any injury to persons or to do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds, property, or pets.
A. 
Control of dogs. Every person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog is required to ensure that such dog shall defecate only upon such a person's real property or, if such person is a tenant, on real property leased by such person.
B. 
Removal of feces. The feces of any dog who defecates on real property other than that owned or leased by the person owning, harboring, and keeping, or in charge of such dog shall immediately be removed and disposed of in a sanitary manner.
C. 
Exemption for disability assistance. Any owner or keeper of a dog who requires the use of such dog for assistance due to a recognized disability shall be exempt from the provisions of this article when such animal is being used for that purpose.
D. 
Enforcement. The provision of this article shall be enforced by the Township Official. Additionally, private citizens may initiate a complaint through the Police Department to be heard in the Greenwich Township Municipal Court.
The Animal Control Officer shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody or impounded, and thereafter destroyed or disposed of, as provided in N.J.S.A. 4:19- 15.16, any:
A. 
Dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog, which said official or his agents have reason to believe is a stray dog;
B. 
Dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on its collar; and
C. 
Female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
A. 
If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness having inscribed thereon or attached thereto the name and address of any person, or a registration tag, or if the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog is known, the Animal Control Officer shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is listed on the collar, or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog, if known, a notice, in writing, stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after the service of the notice.
B. 
A notice under this section may be served either by delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served, or by leaving it at the person's usual or last known place of abode or at the address given on the collar, or by forwarding it by post in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode or to the address given on the collar.
C. 
When any dog so seized has been detained after seven days after notice, when notice can be given as above set forth, or has been detained for seven days after seizure when no notice has been given as above set forth, and if the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not claimed said dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance, and if the dog was unlicensed at the time of seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not produced a license or registration tag for said dog, the Animal Control Officer may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible. Notwithstanding anything herein to be contrary, if any dog is seized by any health official by the Township of Greenwich, County of Gloucester and State of New Jersey, and the Animal Control Officer is ordered to impound said animal for quarantine purposes, the owner of said animal shall be subject to expenses incurred by reason of said animal's detention at the prevailing rate of the facility holding said animal.
No person who owns, keeps, harbors or possesses any dog or dogs shall suffer or permit such dog or dogs to annoy neighbors and/or other persons living within his or her immediate vicinity by continued barking or howling. A sworn written complaint may be filed with the Police Department by a person within hearing distance of such dog or dogs, setting forth that such barking or howling has continued for unreasonable periods of two or more consecutive days or nights, to the annoyance and discomfort of the complainant, so that it can be established that such barking and howling is a nuisance to the immediate neighborhood; then, and in such case, said complaint shall be served upon the owner of the dog or dogs and said owner shall cause said barking and howling to cease and terminate immediately. If such barking and howling shall again occur, regardless of its duration, the complainant may file a sworn written complaint in the Municipal Court alleging violation of this provision. If the Municipal Court determines that the complainant has complied with the procedure delineated in this provision and no countervailing defenses have been established, the Municipal Court shall find that the provisions of this section have been violated and that the owner shall pay such penalty as may be imposed therefor pursuant to this article.
The Board of Health of the Township of Greenwich shall annually cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept, or harbored within the limits of the Township of Greenwich, and shall report to the Municipal Clerk and to the Secretary of the Board of Health of the Township of Greenwich and to the State Department of Health and Senior Services the result thereof, setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring said dogs, the number of licensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with the registration numbers of each of said dogs, and the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with a complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs.
A. 
License and registration tag fees shall be forwarded to the Chief Financial Officer of Greenwich Township within 30 days after collection and receipt, shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the Township and shall be used only for the purpose provided for by statute.
B. 
The state registration tag fee of $1, the Pilot Clinic Fund fee of $0.20 and the nonneutered/nonspayed fee of $3 for each dog shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the Township Clerk to the State Department of Health and Senior Services.
Any person who shall in any way hinder or interfere with the Township Official in the performance of their duties under the provisions of this article, or who shall refuse to give information to any person making the canvass herein provided for, or who shall take a dog from the animal shelter, except upon redeeming such dog in the manner as provided by this article, or who shall break or injure such animal shelter, shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of this article.
Any Township Official authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article is hereby authorized to go upon any premises to seize for impoundment any dog or dogs which he may lawfully seize or impound when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such dog or dogs, except upon the premises of the owner of the dog if said owner is present and forbids the same.
A. 
The Judge of the Municipal Court within the Township of Greenwich is empowered upon the filing of a complaint, in writing, by any person authorized by the local Board of Health, when the plaintiff is the local Board of Health, or by the Department of Health and Senior Services, the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee of the Township Council, or the duly designated Animal Control Officer, when the plaintiff is the Township, alleging that a violation of this article has occurred, which complaint may be made upon information and belief, to issue process at the suit of the local Board of Health or of the Township, as the case may be, as plaintiff. The process shall be either in the nature of a summons or warrant, which warrant may issue without any order of the court first being obtained against the person so charged, which process when in the nature of a warrant shall be returnable forthwith, and when in the nature of a summons shall be returnable in not less than five nor more than 15 entire days. The process shall state what provision of this article or of any statute pertaining to the subject matter hereof has been violated by the defendant or defendants. The court having jurisdiction may at all times amend all defects and errors in the complaint and process issued hereunder.
B. 
Any officer authorized by law to serve and execute process in the court in which the proceeding is brought hereunder may serve and execute all process in proceedings for violation of any of the provisions of this article or of the laws and statutes relating thereto.
C. 
On the return of process issued pursuant to this section or at any time to which the trial shall be adjourned, the court, without the filing of any pleadings, may proceed to hear the testimony in a summary manner without a jury and give judgment for the plaintiff for the penalty and costs, or for the defendant if the facts warrant an acquittal.
D. 
All detentions and commitments made hereunder shall be pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.23 and 4:19-15.24, and any judgment rendered for a violation of any section hereof shall take the form prescribed in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.25.
Any person who shall fail to comply with or who violates or offends against any of the provisions of this article or any section thereof, or with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Health and Senior Services governing the sanitary conduct and operation of kennels, pet shops, shelters and pounds, to preserve sanitation therein and prevent the spread of rabies and other diseases of dogs within and from such establishments, shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $2,000 or imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than 90 days and/or 90 days of community service, or both such fine and imprisonment and/or community service.