[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of New Hanover as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-13-1976 as Ch. V of the 1974 Code]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DOG
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
DOG OF LICENSING AGE
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of teeth.
KENNEL
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a pet shop.
OWNER
When applied to proprietorship of a dog, includes every person having a right of property in such dog and every person who has such dog in his keeping.
PET SHOP
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of dogs seized either under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
RUN AT LARGE
Includes the running or standing of any dog on any street, road or other public place, or any private property where permission for the dog to be has not been granted, in the Township, unattended and not under the immediate control of some responsible person able to control the dog.
SHELTER
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog of licensing age within the Township without first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued by the Township Clerk upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and no person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog in the Township except in compliance with the provisions of this article.
Any person who shall keep, harbor or maintain a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of January or upon acquisition thereof, and in the month of January annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the Township Clerk or other official designated by the Township Committee to license dogs in the Township a license and official metal registration tag for each dog so owned, maintained, kept or harbored and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 5-13-1986 by Ord. No. 1986-5; 11-21-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-21; 12-12-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-22]
A. 
The person applying for the license and registration tag of a dog shall pay an annual fee for such license of $13.80 for each dog. These fees are exclusive of any and all state fees, which state fees shall be in addition to the fees list above. The licenses, registration tags and renewals thereof shall expire on January 31 in each year. There shall be a late charge imposed in the amount of $10 in addition to the licensing fee as of March 1 of each year.
B. 
Any veteran or active duty member of the United States Armed Services, as defined by 38 U.S.C. § 101, including members of the Reserves and National Guard, shall be entitled to a reduction in the fee set forth in Subsection A of this section such that the sum to be paid annually by said veteran for a dog license shall be $1.80 and the further sum of $1 for the registration tag, and a surcharge of $0.20 for low-cost spay-neuter clinic, for a total of $3. Said veteran must provide valid proof of U.S. Military service and register as sole owner of licensed dog.
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 and shall pay the necessary fee for the same within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment.
Notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, no person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain at any one time within the limits of the Township more than five dogs of licensing age, except in a kennel or pet shop and excepting dogs that are held and confined in a shelter or pound under the provisions of this article.
A. 
License required. Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel, a pet shop, a shelter or a pound shall apply to the Clerk or other official designated to license dogs in the Township for a license entitling him or her to keep or operate such establishment.
B. 
Application information. 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 Zoning Officer and the Board of Health of the Township, showing compliance with local and state rules and regulations governing the location of and sanitation at such establishment.
C. 
License information; expiration; revocation. 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 January 31 of each year and be subject to revocation by the Township on recommendation of the State Department of Health or the Township Board of Health for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department or local board governing the same after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department or local board.
D. 
Transfer of license. Any person holding such license shall not be required to secure individual licenses for dogs owned by such licensee and kept at such establishment. The license shall not be transferable to another owner or different premises.
E. 
Fee for license. The annual license fee for a kennel providing accommodations for 10 or fewer dogs shall be $10, and $25 for more than 10 dogs. The annual license fee for a pet shop shall be $10. No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound.
F. 
Restriction. No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be permitted off such premises except on a leash or in a crate or other safe control.
A. 
No person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a dog shall permit, suffer or allow the dog to:
(1) 
Run at large upon any of the public streets or roads or upon any private property in the Township (except on the private property of the person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring any such dog or on the private property of the person so giving permission) unless such dog is accompanied by some responsible person able to control the dog and is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long; provided, nevertheless, that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply in farming and hunting areas of the Township.
(2) 
Bark, cry, whine, howl or otherwise disturb the peace or quiet of the neighborhood or the sleep of any person for any unreasonable length of time.
(3) 
Cause any injury to any person.
(4) 
Do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or other property or run through or across any cultivated gardens or fields.
(5) 
Be or become a public nuisance or create a condition hazardous to safety and health.
B. 
The habitual barking, howling, whining or crying of a dog or dogs in the Township of New Hanover is hereby declared to be a disturbing noise within the meaning of N.J.S.A. 40:48-1, Subdivision 8, and a nuisance.
A. 
No person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring any dog which has been known to be vicious by having previously attacked or bitten any person shall permit such dog to be upon a public street or highway or upon any premises other than those of the person owning such dog or those of the person who has given permission to the owner to keep or harbor such dog unless such dog wears a muzzle securely fastened over his jaws in such manner that he cannot bite.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
B. 
Any dog which has attacked or bitten any human being or has caused any person to be fearful for his own safety by chasing, worrying or otherwise or which has habitually attacked other dogs or domestic animals is hereby defined to be a vicious dog for the purposes of this article, and upon complaint reciting such facts being filed in the Municipal Court, the Municipal Judge, upon due notice to the owner or other person having a property in such dog, if such there be, shall thereupon cause a hearing to be held to determine whether the dog complained against shall be adjudged a vicious dog. In the event that the Municipal Judge, after hearing as aforesaid, shall determine the dog to be a vicious dog within the meaning of this article, the dog shall thereupon be prohibited from being upon any street, road or public place in the Township unless securely muzzled as hereinbefore set forth and under leash, or the Municipal Judge shall make such order with respect to the disposition of the dog as he shall deem consistent with the provisions of this article and in the best interest of the health and welfare of the residents of the Township.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
The Township Committee is hereby empowered to appoint an Animal Control Officer to enforce the provisions of this article. The Township Committee shall also have the power to enter into a contract with one or more persons, either individual or corporate, to exercise the duties of Animal Control Officer and to enforce the provisions of this article.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
All police officers of the Township and the Animal Control Officer, if any, are hereby given full power and authority and are charged with the duty to enforce this article.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
The Animal Control Officer or other designated authority or any police 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 article:
A. 
Any dog running at large or off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog or of the person granting permission for said dog to be on his premises, in violation of any of the provisions of this article, or which is committing a nuisance or doing any injury or damage in violation thereof.
B. 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the dog or the person granting permission for the dog to be on his premises which the Animal Control Officer or any of the other persons charged with the enforcement of this article believes is a stray dog.
C. 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the dog without a current registration tag on his collar.
D. 
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the dog, except when on a leash and in the control of a responsible person capable of maintaining such control.
E. 
Any dog on the premises of the owner which is a public nuisance or dangerous to public health and safety.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
If any dog seized under the provisions of § 65-13 of this article 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 the dog is known, the Animal Control Officer or any official charged with the enforcement of this article or any person authorized by them or on their behalf 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, 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 service of the notice.
A notice under this article 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.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven days after seizure when no notice has been given as above set forth or because of lack of the name and address of the owner and if the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not claimed the dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog has not produced or procured a license and registration tag for the dog, the Animal Control Officer or any person authorized by him in that behalf may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
[Amended 5-13-1986 by Ord. No. 1986-5]
The expenses referred to in § 65-16 which shall be paid by the owner or person keeping or harboring a dog that has been impounded shall be $5 for impounding the dog and $2 per day for maintenance.
[Amended 8-11-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-3]
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this article shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.