[Adopted 7-3-1991 by Ord. No. 10-1991]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ANIMAL
For the purposes of this article, and this article only, a dog or cat.
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State of New Jersey and/or the City of Brigantine to enforce the provisions of this article.
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species, including male, female or altered members of said species.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth, whichever occurs first.
CATTERY
Any room or group of rooms, cage or group of cages or exhibition pen or group of exhibition pens, which are not part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept and/or displayed.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The agency or department of the City of Brigantine or any designated representative thereof charged with administering the issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions of this article.
NEUTERED
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
OWNER
Applies to every person having a right of property in a cat and/or every person who has a cat in his or her keeping, and/or any person 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, proprietorship, organization or institution commonly recognized by law as a legal entity.
A. 
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age or any cat with a full set of permanent teeth within the City of Brigantine 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 in accordance with the latest Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization, published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as further provided for in Subsection D.
C. 
Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination shall be issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form prescribed by the State of New Jersey.
D. 
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements of the vaccination required in Subsection A herein 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 regiment of therapy the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
A. 
Cats must have license number displayed. Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat who is required to be licensed by this article shall annually apply for and procure from the Clerk of the City of Brigantine, or other official designated by the governing body to license cats in the City of Brigantine, 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 thereon. Acceptable methods of displaying said license numbers shall include but not be limited to breakaway or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves, as defined herein, are not transferable and shall be used only for the cat for which they were issued.
B. 
Time for applying for license. The owner of any cat which must be licensed pursuant to this article or of any newly acquired cat of licensing age which has not been licensed shall make application for a license tag or sleeve for such cat within 10 days after such acquisition or within 10 days of the cat reaching the age of seven months or within 10 days of the cat developing a full set of teeth, whichever occurs sooner. This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping a vaccinated cat within the City of Brigantine for no longer than 90 days.
C. 
Cats brought into the City of Brigantine.
(1) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the City of Brigantine any cat licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag or sleeve as defined in this article or similar thereto and who shall intend to or in fact keep said cat or permit said cat to be kept within the City of Brigantine for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for such cat.
(2) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the City of Brigantine any unlicensed cat and who keeps the same or permits the same to be kept within the City of Brigantine for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
D. 
Application; contents; preservation of information. Any application required to be submitted pursuant to this article shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the cat for which the license and registration is being sought and whether said cat is of a longhaired or shorthaired variety and the name, street address and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such cat, if other than the owner. The information contained on said application and registration number issued for any particular cat shall be preserved for a period of three years from the date of the submittal of the application and/or the date of the issuance of the registration number, respectively, by the Clerk or other local official designated to license cats in the City of Brigantine.
E. 
License forms and tags. License forms and official tags or sleeves shall be furnished by the City of Brigantine and shall be numbered serially and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the City of Brigantine thereon.
F. 
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certification of exemption; requirement for license. No official designated by the City of Brigantine to license cats shall grant any such license and/or 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 as exempt as provided for in this article. Any evidence of a cat being inoculated with a rabies vaccine shall only be accepted if said rabies inoculation was administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to perform said inoculation.
G. 
License fee schedule. Licenses pursuant to this article shall be issued after the payment of a fee as set forth in Chapter 210, Mercantile Businesses, Article II, Fees Schedule, for each cat, whether a neutered cat or unneutered. In addition to these fees, there shall be a late fee as set forth in Chapter 210, Mercantile Businesses, Article II, Fees Schedule, charged for any cat which is not licensed and/or which does not receive an official registration tag or sleeve within the time necessary for the same as detailed in this article.
[Amended 12-28-1992 by Ord. No. 28-1992]
H. 
Fees; renewals; expiration date of license.
(1) 
Any person applying for a license and registration tag and/or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed or authorized by this article. The fee for the renewal of said license and registration tag and/or sleeve shall be the same as for the originally issued license and registration tag and/or sleeve. All licenses, registration tags and/or sleeves and any renewals thereof shall expire on December 31 in the following year. Notwithstanding the above, the City will replace free of cost any lost, stolen or otherwise misplaced registration tag and/or sleeve once, and once only, for any particular cat.
(2) 
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required in any licensing year for any cat in the City of Brigantine. Any valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality with an ordinance similar to this one shall be accepted by the City of Brigantine as evidence of compliance with this article.
I. 
Proof of licensing. Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a cat upon the request, either written or verbal, of any health official, police officer, Animal Control Officer or other authorized person of the City of Brigantine or County of Atlantic or State of New Jersey.
J. 
Interfering with persons performing duties under this article. No person shall hinder, molest or in any way interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty or function pursuant to this article.
K. 
Disposition of fees collected.
(1) 
License fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the City of Brigantine and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the City of Brigantine and shall be used for the following purposes only: for the collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure; for local prevention and control of rabies; for providing antirabies treatment under the direction of the Local Board of Health for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; and for the general administering of the provisions of this article.
(2) 
Any unexpected balance remaining in such special account shall be retained until the end of the third fiscal year following the year in which it was accrued and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section. At the end of said third fiscal year following the year it was accrued and at the end of each fiscal year thereafter, there shall be transferred from such special account to the general funds of the City of Brigantine any amount then in such amount which is in excess of the total amount paid into the special account during the last two fiscal years next proceeding.
[Added 5-19-1999 by Ord. No. 5-1999]
No person who is the owner of or otherwise has custody and control of any cat or cats within the City of Brigantine will allow the same to become a nuisance. For the purposes of this section, a cat shall be considered a nuisance when engaged in any of the following activities: on more than one occasion within a thirty-day period trespasses onto the property owned by another after the owner or person with custody or control of said cat has been advised that the cat is not welcome or permitted on said property; chews, bites, digs or otherwise effects any flowers, vegetable garden or other garden areas of a property owned by an individual other than the owner or person in custody or control of said cat; defecates or urinates on more than one occasion within a thirty-day period on property other than the property owned by the owner or person with custody or control over said cat after the owner or person with custody or control of said cat has been advised that the cat is not welcome or permitted on said property.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this article shall be liable for a penalty of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for no more than 90 days, or both, in the discretion of any Judge hearing a complaint brought pursuant to this article.