Township of Springfield, NJ Dog Control

Licenses shall be required for the following dogs of licensing age:

(a)

Any dog acquired and kept within the Township 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 Township for more than 10 days after acquisition,

(c)

Any dog attaining licensing age during the course of the calendar year, within 10 days of age attainment.

(d)

Any unlicensed dog brought into the Township by any person and kept within the Township for more than 10 days.

(e)

Any dog licensed by another state brought into the Township by any person and kept within the Township for more than 90 days.

Only one license and registration tag shall be required in any licensing year for any dog owned in New Jersey, and the license and tag issued by any other municipality of this state shall be accepted by the Township as evidence of compliance with this article.

Application for license.

Each application for a dog license shall be made to the dog registrar 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 the dog is of a long- or short-haired variety.

(b)

Name, street and post office address of the owner of the dog and the person who shall keep the dog if other than the owner.

Registration numbers shall be issued in the order in which applications are received.

Application for license; when made. Applications for licenses for dogs which are required to be licensed by the provisions of § 48-2A shall be made before January 31 of each year. In all other cases, the application for a license shall be made within 10 days of the date upon which the dog in question first becomes subject to the provisions of this section.

Fees. The person applying for a license shall pay a license fee for each dog plus a fee for the registration tag for each dog. Such fees shall be as provided in Chapter 91, Fees. The same fees shall be charged for the annual renewal of a license and registration tag.

Expiration date. Each dog license and registration tag shall expire on January 31 of the year following the year in which it was issued.

Rabies inoculation. Each application for a dog license shall be accompanied by a certificate of inoculation against rabies pursuant to the provisions contained in § 48-8; otherwise no license and registration tag for the dog in question shall be issued.

Exceptions. 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 in the same manner as other dogs, except that the owner shall not be required to pay any fee.

[Amended 7-14-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-13]

§ 48-3 Registration tags; running at large; leashing; property damage; nuisances.

Registration tags. A metal registration tag shall be issued for each dog licensed. Each dog licensed shall wear a collar or harness with its registration tag securely fastened to it.

Improper use of registration tags. No person, except an officer of the Township in the performance of his/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 it was not issued.

Dogs and other animals running at large.

It shall be unlawful for any horses, cattle, dogs, swine, goats and other animals to travel at large, either upon the public streets or private places (other than upon the private property of the owner of such animals) within the Township.

[Amended 12-13-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-14]

Dogs used for hunting, while actually engaged in hunting, or being exercised or trained, need not be on a leash, provided that they are under the control of some responsible person able to control the dogs and personally present at the place where the dogs are running at large.

Leashing of dogs. No owner of any dog shall permit it to be upon the public streets or in any of the public places of the Township, unless such dog is accompanied by a person over the age of 12 years and is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.

Property damage; responsibility of dog owner.

No owner of any dog shall permit it to do any damage to any lawn, garden, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or other property.

In addition to any fine levied as a result of violations of this article, the owner of any animal which causes damage to another’s property shall be responsible for the damage caused.

Nuisance by dogs; supervision by owners. No person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog shall cause, suffer or allow such dog to soil, defile, defecate on or commit any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, bypath, play area, park, school ground or any space where the public congregates or walks or upon any public property or place whatsoever or upon any private property without the permission of the owner of the property. This restriction shall not apply to that portion of the street lying between the curblines, which shall be used to curb such dog under the following conditions:

The person who so curbs such dog shall immediately remove all feces deposited by such dog by any sanitary method approved by the Department of Health.

The feces removed from the aforementioned designated area shall be disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog curbed in accordance with the provisions of this article in a sanitary method approved by the Department of Health.

Any person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any dog not curbed in accordance with the provisions of this article shall be deemed to be in violation of these provisions and subject to the penalty provisions.

Disturbing the peace. No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.

[Amended 2-11-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-2]

Determination of cat as public nuisance. Any cat shall be considered a public nuisance if it has no owner or custodian or if it has no place of care or shelter or if it habitually trespasses upon or damages either private or public property or bites, scratches or harms persons within the Township or private places (other than upon the private property of the owner of such animals) within the Township.

[Added 12-13-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-14]

§ 48-4 Dog census.

[Amended 7-14-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-13]

The dog registrar shall biennially cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the Township and shall report, on or before September 1 of the year in which the census is taken, to the Township Council and to the State Department of Health the result thereof, setting forth in separate column the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring dogs, the number of licensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each person, the registration number of each licensed dog and the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each person and a complete description of each unlicensed dog.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: Former § 9-5, Vicious dogs, which immediately followed this section, was deleted 7-14-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-13.

§ 48-5 Impounding.

Cause for impounding. The dog registrar, animal control officer or any police 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:

[Amended 7-14-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-13]

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;

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;

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

(4)

Any dog or other animal which is suspected to be rabid;

(5)

Any dog or other animal off the premises of the owner reported to, or observed by, a certified animal control officer to be ill, injured or creating a threat to public health, safety or welfare, or otherwise interfering with the enjoyment of property.

Access to premises. 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 which (s)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.

Notice of seizure.

If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness showing the name and address of any person or a registration tag or if the owner of the dog is known the dog registrar shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the owner, if known, a notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized and will be liable to be offered for adoption or destroyed if not claimed within three days after service of the notice.

[Amended 7-14-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-13]

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 dog’s collar or by forwarding it by mail in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at his/her usual, or last known, place of abode or to the address given on the collar.

Destruction of dogs. The animal control officer may cause any impounded dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible and consistent with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:22-9 or to be offered for adoption seven days after seizure; provided that:

Notice is given as set forth above and the animal remains unclaimed;

The owner or person keeping or harboring the animal has not claimed the animal and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including a maintenance charge not to exceed a fee as set forth in Chapter 91, Fees; or

The owner or person keeping or harboring a dog which was unlicensed at the time of seizure does not produce a license and registration tag for the dog.

§ 48-6 Dog bites.

Where it has been determined by a physician that a person has been bitten by a dog, the individual or his/her parent or guardian if (s)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 or individuals, 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 reexamined by a veterinarian and a written report of the dog’s state of health sent to the Department of Health.

§ 48-6.1 Vicious dogs.

[Added 12-13-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-14]

State law incorporated by reference. The state statute governing vicious and potentially dangerous dogs, N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq., is hereby incorporated in this article by reference.

Licensing, registration and identification of potentially dangerous dogs.

The owner of a dog declared potentially dangerous pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-23 shall apply to the Township Clerk for a potentially dangerous dog license, municipal registration number and red identification tag. The Township Clerk shall issue the same upon written verification from the Municipal Animal Control Officer that the owner has complied with the orders of the panel convened pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-21. The owner shall annually renew said potentially dangerous dog license.

The fee for issuance of a potentially dangerous dog license and each annual renewal thereof shall be $700.

Telephone number for reporting violations of N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq. The Township Clerk shall publicize a telephone number for reporting violations of the Act establishing requirements for owners of vicious and potentially dangerous dogs, N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq., and shall forward this number to the State Department of Health.

Liability of owner for costs of impoundment and destruction of vicious dog.

If a dog is declared vicious or potentially dangerous pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq., and all appeals pertaining thereto have been exhausted, the owner of the dog shall be liable to the Township for the costs and expenses for impounding a vicious or potentially dangerous dog in the municipal pound in the amount of $35 per day and of destroying a vicious dog in the amount of $35.

The owner shall incur the expense of impounding the dog in a facility other than the municipal pound, regardless of whether the dog is ultimately found to be vicious or potentially dangerous.

§ 48-7 Rabies control.

Mandatory inoculation. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection D hereof, no person shall own, harbor or keep any dog within the Township limits which is not inoculated against rabies.

Periods of inoculation. A dog shall be inoculated against rabies once each year and within nine months prior to the date set for procurement of the dog license required in § 48-2A; provided, if the Flury check embryo vaccine is used, the inoculation against rabies may be performed every three years. The inoculation shall be made by a duly licensed veterinarian of the State of New Jersey or by such other person permitted by law to make same and approved by the Department of Health of the Township. The vaccine must be of a type approved by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry or by the United States Public Health Service.

Rabies tag and certificate. Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog within the Township limits shall possess a certificate, both indicating that such dog has been inoculated against rabies and setting forth the date of such inoculation. The certificate of inoculation shall be exhibited to the health officer when application for a dog license is made. The certificate shall also be produced by any person owning, keeping or harboring a dog within the Township limits upon the request of any Department of Health official or member of the Police Department.

Exceptions. This section shall not apply to:

Dogs which have not attained the age of seven months.

Dogs which do not possess a permanent set of teeth.