Article I Dogs

§ 146-2 License and registration tags; fees; application.

Editor's Note: The definition of "cat," which previously preceded this definition, added 6-20-1990 by Ord. No. 7-90, was repealed 5-19-1993 by Ord. No. 4-93. See now Art. III, Cats, of this chapter.

License and registration tag.

Any person who shall own, keep, harbor or maintain a dog of licensing age within the Township of Jefferson shall, during the month of January of each year, apply for and procure from the office of the Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson, or other official designated by the governing body of the municipality, a license and official metal registration tag for each such dog so owned, kept, harbored or maintained and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness to which there shall be secured the license registration tag and rabies inoculation tag.

The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or 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.

Any person who shall bring or shall cause to be brought into the Township of Jefferson any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag and who shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog, unless such dog shall be licensed under § 146-3G.

Fees.

The person applying for the license and registration tag shall pay a fee on an annual basis of $15, inclusive of all state charges and fees, assessed through the Township, for each dog and including a registration tag for each dog; provided, however, that where the owner shall provide the registering authority with proof, in writing and signed by a veterinarian or another recognized agency of this state or another state, that said dog has been neutered or spayed, then in that event, the license and registration fee for each such dog shall be $10, inclusive of all other state charges and fees assessed through the Township. No license or registration tag shall be issued unless there shall be presented to the licensing authority evidence that the dog to be licensed has received inoculation of an antirabies vaccine for a period equivalent to that for which the license is sought or a certificate or exemption form this requirement. In addition, there shall be a fee of $2 paid to replace any license tag.

[Amended 9-7-1983 by Ord. No. 17-83; 12-6-1984 by Ord. No. 17-84; 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 17-89; 3-17-2004 by Ord. No. 4-04; 12-18-2019 by Ord. No. 19-32]

For each renewal of an issued license, the fee for license and registration shall be the same as for the original license and tag. The license and registration tag shall expire on the last day of January of the year following the issuance of the license.

Any person who shall own, keep, maintain or harbor an unlicensed dog of licensing age after the last day of January of each year shall be required to pay a delinquent licensing fee of $3 for each license or license renewal after the last day of the month when said license or renewal thereof should have been applied for, and an additional late charge of $3 shall be assessed for each month, or part thereof, thereafter. The payment of the delinquent or late fees or charges required under this provision shall not relieve any person from liability to prosecution for violation of this article.

[Amended 12-18-2019 by Ord. No. 19-32]

(4)

Dogs used as guides and commonly known as "Seeing Eye" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.

Application for license. The application for a dog license shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which the license and registration are sought, whether it is a long- or short-haired variety and the name by which the dog is known or called; also the name, street and post office address of the owner and person who shall keep, harbor or maintain such dog within the Township of Jefferson. The information on the application and the registration number issued for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Township Division of Health. Additionally, the Township Division of Health shall forward similar information to the State Department of Health and Senior Services each month on forms furnished by the Department. Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of the applications received.

Removal of tags. No person, except an officer in the performance of his 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 it was not issued.

Each property shall have no more than five dogs on lots smaller than one acre. Each property owner shall have no more than eight dogs on lots greater than one acre. Properties harboring seven or more dogs and not being a kennel, shelter or pet shop, as defined in Article I of Chapter 146, must register as a pet collective as defined in Article V of Chapter 146.

[Added 11-11-2020 by Ord. No. 20-21]

§ 146-3 Animal care facilities.

[Amended 9-15-1999 by Ord. No. 28-99; 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18; 6-29-2022 by Ord. No. 22-14]

Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish an animal care facility shall, in the case of a renewal of the license, apply to the licensing authority. Applications for the creation of new establishments shall be made to the Township Council through the Municipal Clerk's Office.

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. All applicants must provide a copy of the VPH1 Health Inspection Form, indicating an inspection has been completed by the Health Department and that the facility is in compliance with local and state rules and regulations governing locations and sanitation at each such establishment. First-time applicants or applicants with a change in location must provide written approval from the Zoning Officer.

All licenses issued for an animal care facility shall state the purpose for which the establishment is maintained, and all such licenses shall expire on the last day of June of each year and be subject to revocation by the Township Council on recommendation of the State Department of Health and Senior Services or the Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department of Health and Senior Services or the Township Division of Health governing the same after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health and Senior Services or the Division of Health of the Township.

Any person holding such license shall not be required to secure individual licenses for dogs and cats owned by such licensee and kept at such establishments. Such licenses shall not be transferable to another owner or different premises.

The total number of licenses issued to animal care facilities combined shall not exceed 10, excluding the Township of Jefferson pound.

Zoning Ordinance provisions shall supersede and have priority over the provisions of this section relating thereto.[1]

§ 146-5 Record of complaints; annual canvass.

Editor's Note: See Ch. 490, Zoning.

The annual license fee for an animal care facility providing accommodations for 10 or fewer animals shall be $50 and for more than 10 animals shall be $100. No fee shall be charged for the Township of Jefferson pound.

No animal kept in an animal care facility shall be permitted off such premises except on a leash or in a crate or other device designed to contain animals or under other safe control.

The Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson or any other person appointed by the Township Council of the Township to license dogs and cats in the municipality shall forward to the State Department of Health and Senior Services a list of all animal care facilities licensed within 30 days after the licenses therefor are issued, which list shall include the name and address of the licensee and the kind of license issued.

§ 146-4 Disposition of fees.

License fees collected or received under the provisions of this article, except registration tag fees, shall be received and forwarded to the Treasurer of the Township of Jefferson within 30 days after collection or receipt and shall be placed in a separate account, separate from any of the other accounts of the municipality, and shall be used for the following purposes only:

For collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable to seizure under this article; for local prevention and control of rabies; for providing antirabies treatment under the decision of the local Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; for payment of obligations established in accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:19-5; and for administering the provisions of this article. Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account shall be retained therein until 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 municipality any amount then in such account which is in excess of the total amount paid into said special account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.

The per annum registration tag fee of $0.50 for each dog shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the Division of Health of the Township of Jefferson, or other official designated to license dogs, to the State Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Division of Health shall keep and maintain a record of any reported complaint made against any dog, including complaints involving any alleged incident pertaining to the dog's having bitten any person or animal within the Township, together with any record of Municipal Court action pertaining to the same.

Census; list of owners. Any person appointed for the purpose by the administration of the Township of Jefferson shall annually cause a canvass to be made of any dogs owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the Township and shall report on or before the first day of May of each year to the Division of Health of the Township or other person designated to license dogs within the municipality and to the State Board of Health and Senior Services and the Township Division of Health, setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring or maintaining unlicensed dogs and the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept, harbored or maintained by each of said persons, together with a complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs.

§ 146-6 Animal Control Officer.

The Township Administrator shall appoint and employ the Animal Control Officer, who shall come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Welfare.

All police officers of the Township, regular and special, the Code Enforcement Officer, the Animal Control Officer and the Health Law Enforcement Officer (HLEO) are hereby given full power and authority and are charged with the duty to enforce this article.

[Amended 7-7-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18]

§ 146-7 Impoundment of dogs.

[Amended 7-17-1991 by Ord. No. 17-91; 9-6-1995 by Ord. No. 18-95; 12-5-2001 by Ord. No. 35-01[1]]

The Animal Control Officer shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter destroyed or offered for adoption as provided in this section:

Any 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.

Any dog off the premises of the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on his collar.

Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.

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 the 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 the person keeping or harboring the dog, if known, a notice stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be offered for adoption or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after the service of the notice.

A notice under this section may be served either by delivering it to the person on whom it is 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.

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 seven days after seizure when notice has not been and cannot be given as above set forth and if the owner or the person keeping or harboring the dog has not claimed said dog and paid expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including a detention fee of $25 per day, a maintenance fee of $4 per day, together with a pickup fee of $25, and if the dog is 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 the dog, the Animal Control Officer may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible and consistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:22-19 or offered for adoption.

[Amended 5-18-2022 by Ord. No. 22-13]

§ 146-8 Entry upon premises for seizure.

Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article may 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 the owner is present and forbids the same.

§ 146-9 Interference with authorized persons.

No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article.

§ 146-10 Barking dogs.

No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks, howls or cries. The habitual barking, howling or crying of a dog or dogs in the Township of Jefferson is hereby declared to be a disturbing noise within the meaning of N.J.S.A. 40:48-1, Subsection 8, and is further declared to be a nuisance.

§ 146-11 Running at large.

No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit the dog to run at large within the Township. This shall not apply to hunting dogs while they are in the woods and fields of the Township and are under the dominion and control of the owners.

No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer it to be upon the public street or in any public place of the Township of Jefferson unless such dog is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash or tether of adequate and sufficient strength to restrain the animal and which shall be not more than six feet in length.

§ 146-12 Vicious dogs. [1]

Term defined; impoundment and investigation; hearing.

For the purpose of this section, any dog which has attacked or bitten any human being or which habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals is hereby defined to be a "vicious dog."

It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer to either impound said animal or to place the animal under quarantined impoundment at the residence of the owner. The owner shall cause the animal to be forthwith examined by a veterinarian who shall provide the Division of Health with a certificate as to the physical and emotional condition of the animal, which certificate shall be received within 10 days of the date of impoundment, and which report shall be provided at the expense of the owner. No dog shall be released from impoundment until authorized by the Division of Health. During this period of impoundment, it shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer to investigate the complaint against the dog, and when any dog complained against shall be deemed by the Division of Health to be a vicious dog as herein defined, the Division of Health shall report the facts to the Municipal Court, which shall thereupon cause the owner or person harboring such dog to appear before said Judge at a stated time and place. The Judge of the Municipal Court, at the time set for such hearing, shall inquire into the facts and give all interested persons an opportunity to be heard under oath and to be represented by counsel, and the Judge shall decide in accordance with the evidence before him whether or not such dog is vicious, as defined by this section.

Nothing herein stated shall be deemed to prevent the filing of a complaint with the Municipal Court by any citizen who has been bitten by a dog or whose children or domestic animals have been bitten by a dog.

In the event that the dog complained against is declared to be a vicious dog at the hearing aforesaid, the Judge shall cause a record thereof to be kept by the Clerk of the Court and shall also cause a written copy thereof to be served upon the Animal Control Officer and upon the owner or harborer of such dog. Thereafter, if the same dog shall again be charged with having attacked or bitten any human being or with having habitually attacked other dogs or domestic animals, the Animal Control Officer shall file a complaint against such dog, charging it under this section with attacking other dogs or domestic animals, as the case may be, for the second time, and shall serve a summons, with a copy of the complaint annexed, upon the owner or harborer of such dog.

At the hearing, a certified copy of the record of the prior hearing of the viciousness of such dog shall be admitted into evidence The Judge shall thereupon inquire into the facts and give all interested persons an opportunity to be heard under oath and to be represented by counsel. If the Judge finds from the evidence that sufficient proof has been adduced to support the charge laid in the complaint and, further, finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the destruction of such dog is necessary to prevent further harm to persons and to domestic animals, he shall command the Animal Control Officer to destroy such dog as painlessly as possible within a specified time; provided, however, that the following shall be deemed to be valid defenses in both such hearings:

That the biting by such dog occurred while the dog was confined on the property of the owner or harborer thereof and was securely chained or in a pen or other fenced-in area thereon.

That the dog was provoked by the person or domestic animal bitten or attacked, whether such biting or attacking occurred on the premises of the owner or harborer of such dog or at any other place in the Township.

Upon a determination made in the Municipal Court that a dog is vicious, in addition to any fine, penalty or conditions imposed by the Court, the owner of said dog shall, in the event that the dog is continued to be maintained within the Township of Jefferson, be required to comply with the following regulations:

Where the dog is maintained upon the premises in a shelter other than the residence of the owner, the shelter must be enclosed by a fencing of sufficient height and strength to retain the animal within the enclosure.

"Beware of vicious dog" signs must be posted at all means of ingress and egress to the property.

§ 146-13 Certain types of leashing prohibited.

Editor's Note: See also N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq.

It shall be unlawful for any owner, keeper or person in whose care, custody or control a dog has been left to:

Keep or maintain any dog leashed or tethered in the open upon any property within the Township without providing said animal with adequate food, water and a place of shelter within the radius of the tether or leash.

Tether or leash a dog by tying the same directly to the neck of the animal or by connecting a leash or tether to a choke collar.

Tether or leash a dog so as to permit or suffer the animal to block or interfere with any gate, walk, path or steps when the same constitutes the means of ingress or egress to the premises from the public way; provided, however, that this provision shall not prevent any person from permitting a dog to run at large upon private premises where the same are totally enclosed by a fence of sufficient and adequate strength and height to prevent the animal from leaving the enclosure, and provided further that there is posted conspicuously at all entrances to the premises a sign with lettering at least two inches and not more than three inches in height and at least 1 1/2 inches and not more than three inches in width, said sign being 12 inches in height and width, stating that there is a dog running at large upon said premises.

§ 146-14 Damage by dogs.

No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall permit or suffer it to do any injury to any person or to do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.

§ 146-15 Removal of feces.

[Amended 2-1-2006 by Ord. No. 1-06]

All pet owners and keepers are required to immediately and properly dispose of their pet’s solid waste deposit on any property, public or private, not owned or possessed by that person. Proper disposal shall mean the 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.[1]

Editor's Note: Former § 32-16, Immunization for cats, which previously followed this section, added 6-20-1990 by Ord. No. 7-90, was repealed 5-19-1993 by Ord. No. 4-93. See now Art. III, Cats, of this chapter.

§ 146-16 Violations and penalties.

Any person who violates or refuses to comply with any licensing provision as set forth in this article and fails to license an animal as required shall be liable to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100, plus costs of court for each offense.

[Amended 5-19-1993 by Ord. No. 4-93]

Penalties for dogs running at large.

[Amended 9-15-2020 by Ord. No. 20-19]

Any person who shall violate § 146-11 shall be liable to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500, plus costs of court, for the first offense and to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, plus costs of court, for a second offense and each offense thereafter in the discretion of the court.

Any person who shall be deemed to suffer a dog previously determined to be vicious under § 146-12 to run at large shall be liable to a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $500, plus costs of court, for the first offense or to imprisonment for a period of not more than 10 days, or both, in the discretion of the court, and to a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $1,000, plus costs of court, in the discretion of the court, for a second offense and each offense thereafter.