[Adopted 6-9-1992 by Ord. No. 734-92 (Ch. 129, Art. I, of the 1989 Code)]
The following words, terms and phrases are hereby defined as follows:
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species; male, female or altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
CATTERY
Any room or groups of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, includes every person having a right of property (or custody) in such cat and every person who has such cat in his/her keeping or who harbors or maintains a cat or knowingly permits a cat to remain on or about any premises occupied by that person.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or institution commonly recognized by laws as a unit.
A. 
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within the Township of Brick, unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions of this section do not apply to cats held in a cattery or those held by a state or federal licensed research facility or a veterinary establishment where cats are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other treatments or licensed animal shelters, pounds, kennels or pet shops.
B. 
Vaccination. All cats shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian.
C. 
Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination shall be issued to the owner of each animal.
D. 
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements of such vaccination for a specified period of time by the local Board of Health, upon presentation of a veterinarian's certificate stating that because of an infirmity or other physical condition or regimen of therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
[Amended 9-28-1993 by Ord. No. 734-A-93; 11-22-1994 by Ord. No. 802-94; 7-22-2008 by Ord. No. 29-08]
A. 
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the Township Clerk of the Township of Brick a license and official registration tag with license number or a registration sleeve for each cat so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon such cat a collar or other device with the license number securely fastened or displayed thereto. Acceptable methods of displaying the license number shall include but are not limited to breakaway or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves are not transferable.
B. 
The owner of a newly acquired cat of licensing age or of any cat which attains licensing age shall make application for a license tag or sleeve for such cat within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping a cat within the Township of Brick for no longer than 90 days.
C. 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Brick any cat licensed in another state for the current year, and bearing registration tag or sleeve, and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of Brick for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat, except any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Brick any unlicensed cat and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of Brick for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
D. 
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the cat for which license and registration are sought and whether it is of a long- or shorthaired variety; also the name, street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such cat. The information on said application and the registration number issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Township Clerk of the Township of Brick.
E. 
License forms and official tags or sleeves shall be furnished by the Township of Brick and shall be numbered serially and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the Township of Brick.
F. 
The Township Clerk shall not grant any such license and official registration tag or sleeve for any cat unless the owner thereof provides evidence that the cat to be licensed and registered has been inoculated with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Human Services or has been certified exempt as provided in § 98-23D of this chapter. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
G. 
Effective January 1, 2009, each cat shall be registered for a license upon payment of the sum of $10 in the case of a cat which has been neutered or spayed and $13 in the case of a cat which has not been neutered or spayed, which sums shall include the fee paid to the State of New Jersey; until January 1, 2009, the licensing and registration fees shall remain $6 in the case of a cat which has been neutered or spayed and $9 in the case of a cat which has not been neutered or spayed. In addition to the fee provided for the registration of any cat as hereinabove set forth, an administrative charge of $1 for any cat registered after January 31 of each year shall be collected. The administrative charge to be collected by the Clerk pursuant to this section for any cat registered after the date such registration was due shall be $1 for every month or part thereof from the date on which said registration was required until the actual date such registration was made.
H. 
Any such owner or person may, however, subject to the conditions stated aforesaid, apply for a license which shall have a term of three calendar years from the date of issuance. Effective January 1, 2009, the fee for such license shall be $26 for a cat which has been neutered or spayed and $35 for a cat which has not been neutered or spayed, which sums shall include any fee paid to the State of New Jersey; until January 1, 2009, the licensing and registration fees shall remain $14 in the case of a cat which has been neutered or spayed and $23 in the case of a cat which has not been neutered or spayed. Application for such licenses shall be made during the month of January. Where application has been made for such license in any month other than January, the applicant shall be, in addition, subject to the administrative fee above provided for.
I. 
No license shall, however, be issued for a period of other than one year except for where the application for such license shall be accompanied by a certification from a licensed veterinary indicating that the cat to be licensed has been inoculated for rabies and that such inoculation shall immunize said cat for the term of the license applied for.
J. 
Licenses from another municipality shall be accepted. The person applying for the license and registration tag and/or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed or authorized. The fee for the renewal of license and registration tag or sleeve shall be the same for the original, and said license, registration tag or sleeve and renewal thereof shall expire on December 31 in the following year. Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required in the licensing year for any cat in the Township of Brick. Any valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be accepted by the Township of Brick as evidence of compliance.
K. 
Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a cat upon the request of any health official, police officer, animal control officer or other authorized person.
L. 
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this chapter.
[Amended 11-28-2006 by Ord. No. 37-06]
Whenever any penalty is imposed by this article on the owner or keeper of a cat, a fine not exceeding $50 shall be imposed upon such owner or keeper or imprisonment in the County jail in case of failure to pay said fine, one day for each $1 of fine imposed. Where the Township has contracted with any agency or other entity to carry out animal control on behalf of the Township, any employee of such agency or entity may issue summonses for violations of this article.