Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a
kennel, a pet shop, a shelter or a pound shall apply to the Township
Department of Health for a license entitling him to keep or operate
such establishment.
A.
The application shall describe
the premises where the establishment is located or is proposed to
be located and the purpose or purposes for which it is to be maintained
and shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Health Officer
of the Board of Health of the Township, showing compliance with the
local and state rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation
at such establishments.
(1)
Any facility constructed
or renovated after January 1995 shall first submit plan(s) to the
Department of Health.
(2)
These plan(s) must show the
layout of all rooms, areas, pens, cages, etc., and equipment and utilities
necessary to comply with the standards as set forth in N.J.A.C. 8:23A
et seq.
(3)
These plans must be completely
drawn to scale by at least a draftsman and contain all information
requested by the Health Officer.
(4)
Once a satisfactory plan
is submitted the plans must be approved or denied within 30 days.
If denied, the applicant shall revise said plans and resubmit them.
(5)
No kennel, pet shop, shelter,
or pound shall be constructed until the plans have been approved by
the Health Officer and only constructed as approved.
B.
All licenses issued for a kennel,
pet shop, shelter or pound shall state the purpose for which the establishment
is maintained, and all such licenses shall expire on the last day
of January of each year and be subject to revocation by the Township
Board of Health on recommendations of the State Department of Health
or the Health Department of the Township for failure to comply with
the rules and regulations of the State Department or the Board of
Health of the Township governing the same, after the owner has been
afforded a hearing by either the State Department or the Board of
Health of the Township.
C.
Any person holding such license
shall not be required to secure individual licenses for dogs or cats
by such license and kept at such establishments; such licenses shall
not be transferable to another owner or different premises.
A.
The fee for a plan review by
the Health Department shall be $125, nonrefundable.
B.
The annual license fee for a
kennel providing accommodations for 10 or fewer dogs shall be $10,
and for more than 10 dogs, $25. The annual license fee for a pet shop
shall be $10. No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound. The
licenses herein provided for shall expire on the last day of January
of each year.
A.
Any person who is required to secure a license pursuant to § 660-20 shall only receive approval from the Health Officer if that person demonstrates compliance with the New Jersey Administrative Code, Title 8, Chapter 23A et seq.
B.
Any holder of a license to operate
an animal facility shall comply at all times with the standards of
N.J.A.C. 8:23A et seq.
C.
Failure of any license holder
to comply with N.J.A.C. 8:23A in whole or in part shall be subject
to legal action including but not limited to license revocation.
No animal kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall
be permitted off such premises, except on a leash or in a humane carrier
or other means of safe control.
The Township Board of Health shall have the power to appoint
an Animal Control Officer, whose duty it shall be to enforce the provisions
of this chapter. The Township Board of Health shall also have the
power to appoint one or more persons, to be known as "dog catchers,"
who may impound unlicensed dogs running at large in violation of the
provisions of this chapter. In addition, the Health Officer and his
designees of the Township of Union shall be empowered to enforce the
provisions of this chapter.
The Animal Control Officer of the Township shall take into custody
and impound, or cause to be taken into custody and impounded, and
thereafter destroyed or disposed of as provided in this section:
A.
Any dog off the premises of the
owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog, which said official
or his agent, or agents, have reason to believe is a stray dog.
B.
Any dog off the premises of the
owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current
registration tag on his collar.
C.
Seized dogs.
(1)
Any female dog in season
off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring
said dog.
(2)
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 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 given
on the collar or on the owner or on 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.
(3)
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 to the address given on the collar.
(4)
When any dog so seized has
been detained for seven days after notice, when notice can be given
as above set forth, or has been detained for seven days after seizure,
when notice has not been and cannot be 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 not exceeding $20 per day, and if the dog is
unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner or person keeping
or harboring said dog has not produced a license and 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. In such
a case, the owner shall pay to the Township a euthanasia fee as invoiced
by servicing veterinarian.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 550, General
Provisions, Board of Health, Art. I)]
Any person 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 dog or dogs which he may lawfully seize and
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.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized
or empowered to perform any duty under this article.
A.
No person shall keep, harbor
or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries. A dog shall be
presumed to be habitually barking and/or crying if the bark or cry
continues, uninterrupted, for 10 minutes.
B.
No person shall harbor, maintain,
shelter or in any other manner or description keep any dog, cat or
other animal outside the main confines of any dwelling or place of
business between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
C.
For the purposes of this section,
detached or attached garages, sheds, doghouses or similar shelters
used in conjunction with outdoor fenced areas shall likewise be restricted
so that no dog, cat or other animal may be harbored, maintained, sheltered
or kept therein between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
D.
It is the specific purpose and
intent of this section to assure that the ownership of any animal,
by any individual or establishment, shall not cause disturbances to
the peace, tranquility or quality of life of any other individual.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer
or permit it to run at large upon the public streets or in any public
park, or in any public building, or in any other public place within
the Township of Union in the County of Union.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer
or permit it to be upon the public streets or in any of the public
places of the Township of Union, unless such dog is accompanied by
a person over the age of 12 years and if securely confined and controlled
by an adequate leash 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.
No exotic animals are allowed in municipal parks.
A.
Purpose. The purpose of this
section is to establish requirements for the proper disposal of pet
solid waste in the Township of Union, so as to protect animal health,
public health, safety and welfare, environmental quality, and to prescribe
penalties for failure to comply.
B.
IMMEDIATE
OWNER/KEEPER
PERSON
PET
PET SOLID WASTE
PROPER DISPOSAL
Definitions and word usage. For
the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases, words and
their derivations shall have the meanings stated herein unless their
use in the text of this article clearly demonstrates a different meaning.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present
tense include the future, words used in the plural number include
the singular number, and words used in the singular number include
the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely
directory.
The pet solid waste is removed at once, without delay.
Any person who shall possess, maintain, house or harbor any
pet or otherwise have custody of any pet, whether or not the owner
of such pet.
Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm,
association, or political subdivision of this state subject to municipal
jurisdiction.
A domesticated animal (other than a disability-assistance
animal) kept for amusement or companionship.
Waste matter expelled from the bowels of the pet; excrement.
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. Neither a public right-of-way, curb or street gutter,
nor a storm drain is a conveyance to a sanitary sewer system.
C.
Requirement for disposal. 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.
D.
Exemptions. Any owner or keeper
who requires the use of a disability assistance animal shall be exempt
from the provisions of this section while such animal is being used
for that purpose.
E.
Enforcement. The provisions of
this section shall be enforced by the Township of Union Health Departments'
Health Officer or designee.
G.
Severability. Each section, subsection,
sentence, clause and phrase of this section is declared to be an independent
section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase, and the finding
or holding of any such portion of this section to be unconstitutional,
void, or ineffective for any cause or reason shall not affect any
other portion of this section.
H.
Effective date. This section
shall be in full force and effect from and after its adoption and
any publication as may be required by law.
A.
Animal Control Officer standards:
(1)
No person shall serve as
an Animal Control Officer in the Township of Union unless he or she
shall have successfully obtained and maintains in good standing a
certification pursuant to N.J.A.C. 8:23A-2.4.
(2)
A certified Animal Control
Officer shall only serve as such in the Township of Union pursuant
to the approval of the Board of Health of the Township of Union.
(3)
A certified Animal Control
Officer appointed by the Township of Union Board of Health shall be
the agent of the Health Officer pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:3-19, and
N.J.A.C. 8:23A.
(4)
A certified Animal Control
Officer who has successfully completed an animal cruelty investigators
course pursuant to N.J.A.C. 8:23A-2.6, and N.J.A.C. 8:23A-2.8 and
is appointed as such by the Board of Health of the Township of Union
shall serve under the direction of the Health Officer pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 26:3-19.
(5)
Both Animal Control Officers and animal cruelty investigators shall enforce the statutes of the State of New Jersey, Title 4, Subchapter 4:19-15 to 4:19-15.16(d); Title 26, 26:4-78 through 26:4-95; State regulations N.J.A.C. 8:23A et seq.; the Township of Union Codes Chapter 660, Articles I through VII, and Health Department Policy Procedures as adopted by the Board as well as the New Jersey State Health Departments Essential Components of Municipal Animal Control.
[Added 12-14-2011; amended 4-23-2024 by Ord. No. 5812]
A.
Animal adoption and fee.
(1)
Dogs and cats cannot be adopted
from the Township of Union Animal Shelter until the potential adoptee
has submitted a completed Township of Union Health Department shelter
adoption application.
(2)
The completed adoption application
form shall be reviewed by the Township Health Officer or his/her designee.
Such review shall be approved or denied within two weeks of submission.
A reason shall be provided to the applicant upon denial.
B.
Boarding and fee.
(1)
The Township of Union Health
Department Shelter will not board pets unless the dog or cat has been
lost and been brought to our shelter or picked up by our ACO as a
stray or lost pet.
(2)
A stray, lost or abandoned
pet shall be kept for seven days and thereafter, if not redeemed by
its rightful owner, it becomes the property of the Township of Union
Health Department.
(3)
Unclaimed pets after seven
days will be offered for adoption. If the animal cannot be adopted
or rescued, rather than abandoning it within our shelter, it may be
euthanized.
(4)
Before anyone can claim their
pet they must show positive proof of ownership. Acceptable proofs
include: a current pet license, a current veterinarian's record of
shots and/or treatment; a chip identifying ownership, and/or pedigree
papers.
(5)
The fee for, i.e., claiming
a pet shall be a fee of $150 per dog and $125 per cat and shall include
veterinarians' fees for treating the animal for illness or injury
while being sheltered by the Health Department Animal Shelter.
(6)
Any owner whose pet is redeemed
for a second or subsequent time shall pay $100 for each redemption
and be charged with violating appropriate sections of this chapter.
C.
Administrative fee per dog $225 and per cat $175.
