[Adopted 12-11-1974 as Ch. 65 of the 1974 Code]
A.
DOG
DOG OF LICENSING AGE
KENNEL
LEASH
OWNER
PERSON
PET SHOP
POUND
SHELTER
TOWNSHIP
Terms defined. The words hereinafter defined shall
have the meanings herein indicated for the purposes of this Article
as follows:
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop.
Any leash, rope, chain, strap or other such restraining device.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, every person
having a right of property in such dog and every person who has such
dog in his keeping.
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association
of persons.
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
An establishment for the confinement of dogs seized either
under the provisions of this Article or otherwise.
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed
without charge.
The Township of Waterford in the County of Camden.
B.
Word usage.
(1)
The words "and" and "or" may be used interchangeably
and either of the two may be applicable, whichever is more conducive
towards the effectuating of this Article.
(2)
Personal pronouns shall mean either the singular or
the plural, whichever is applicable and conducive towards the effectuating
of this Article.
(3)
The masculine, feminine or the neuter gender shall
be implied, whichever is appropriate and conducive for the effectuating
of this Article.
No person shall keep or harbor any dog within
the Township of Waterford in the County of Camden without first obtaining
a license therefor, to be issued by the Clerk of the Township upon
application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and no
person shall keep or harbor any dog in said Township except in compliance
with the provisions of this Article.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24]
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog
of licensing age shall on the last day of January in each year, and
annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the Clerk of the Township
a license and official metal registration tag for each such dog so
owned, kept or harbored, and shall place upon each such dog a collar
or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 12-22-1976 by Ord. No. 76-7; 11-25-1981 by Ord. No.
81-12; 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24]
A.
Every person who shall own, keep or harbor any dog
or dogs, either male or female, within the boundaries of the Township
of Waterford, shall, before the 31st day of January of each year,
pay to the Township Clerk for licensing each dog the sum as set forth
in the Township Fee Schedule Ordinance,[1]and, in addition thereto, shall also pay the sum for a
registration tag, plus a surcharge for the State of New Jersey PILOT
Clinic Fund for a total as set forth in the Township Fee Schedule
Ordinance. Additionally, for any dog of reproduction age which has
not had its reproductive capacity permanently altered through sterilization,
there shall be an additional surcharge as set forth in the Township
Fee Schedule Ordinance, to be paid to the State of New Jersey PILOT
Clinic Fund. All such fees shall be paid annually for the renewals
of such licenses and registration tags. Any person who is required
to but fails to obtain a renewal license on or before April 30 of
each year shall pay, in addition to the fees prescribed by this section
for such licenses or renewal, a late charge as set forth in the Township
Fee Schedule Ordinance. Upon payment of the appropriate fees, the
Township Clerk shall issue to the applicant a license tag for each
such dog, the same to be securely fastened to the licensed dog by
means of a collar or harness. Any person applying for the license
and registration tag for a dog determined to be potentially dangerous
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et. seq. of the laws of the State of
New Jersey shall pay an annual fee as set forth in the Township Fee
Schedule Ordinance.[2]
[Amended 3-13-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-4]
B.
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" or dogs used to assist deaf persons
and commonly known as "hearing ear dogs" shall be licensed and registered
as any other dog, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall
not be required to pay any fee therefor and shall be excluded from
any other provisions of this Article.
License forms and uniform official metal registration
tags designed by the State Department of Health shall be issued and
shall be numbered serially and shall bear the year of issuance and
the name of the Township of Waterford. The application shall state
the breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which license
and registration are sought, and whether it is of a long-haired or
short-haired variety; also the name, street and post office address
of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog. The
information on said application and the registration number issued
for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three years by the
Clerk of the Township. In addition, he shall forward similar information
to said Department of Health.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing
age or of any dog which attains the licensing age shall make application
for a license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days after
such acquisition or age attainment.
The Clerk of the Township of Waterford shall
forward to the State Department of Health each month, on forms furnished
by the Department, the information contained in said application.
A.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Waterford in the County of Camden 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 is licensed under § 94-10 of this Article.
B.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the township any unlicensed dog and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the township for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog, unless such dog is licensed under § 94-10 of this Article.
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.
A.
No new licenses for kennels, pet shops, shelters or
pounds shall be issued after the date of the adoption of this subsection.
Those licenses existing at the time of the adoption of this subsection
may be renewed in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
B.
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish
a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall apply to the Clerk of the
township for a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment.
C.
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 Health Officer of the Board
of Health of the township, showing compliance with the local and state
rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation at such
establishments.
D.
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 the last day of June of each
year and be subject to revocation by the Township Committee on recommendations
of the State Department of Health or the Board of Health of the township
for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State
Department of Health or the Board of Health of the township governing
the same after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the
State Department of Health or the Board of Health of the Township.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24]
E.
Any person holding such license shall not be required
to secure individual licenses for dogs owned by such licensee and
kept at such establishments. Such licenses shall not be transferable
to another owner or different premises.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24; 3-13-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-4]
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or
pound shall be permitted off such premises except on leash or in a
crate or other safe control.
A.
License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this Article, except registration tag fees,
shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Township within 30 days
after collection or receipt and shall be placed in a special account
separate from any of the other accounts of the Township and which
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, and providing antirabic treatment
under the direction of the Local Board of Health for any person known
or suspected to have been exposed to rabies; for all other purposes
prescribed by the statutes of New Jersey governing the subject; and
for administering the provisions of this Article.
B.
Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account
shall be retained therein until the end of the third fiscal year following
and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section.
At the end of said 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 Township 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.
C.
The registration tag fee for each dog shall be forwarded
within 30 days after collection by the Clerk to the State Department
of Health.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24]
The Clerk of the Township shall forward to the
State Department of Health a list of all kennels, pet shops, shelters
and pounds 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.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24]
The official appointed by the Township Committee
shall annually 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 each year to the Clerk of the township, the Board of Health of
the township and to the State Department of Health the results thereof,
setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons
owning, keeping or harboring such dogs, the number of licensed dogs
owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with the
registration numbers of each of said dogs, and the number of unlicensed
dogs owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with
a complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs.
The Chief of Police of the Township of Waterford
shall cause the provisions of this Article to be enforced as therein
provided. If it so desires, the Township Committee shall have the
power to appoint one or more persons, to be known as "animal control
officers," who may impound unlicensed dogs running at large in violation
of the provisions of this Article.
A.
The Chief of Police of the Township of Waterford,
or any person appointed for the purpose by the Township Committee
of the Township of Waterford, 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:[1]
(1)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring said dog, without a leash and not accompanied
by the owner or any person authorized by the owner, which said official
or his agent or agents have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or the person
keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on
his collar.
(3)
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner
or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
B.
If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness having
inscribed thereon or attached thereto the name and address of any
person on a registration tag or the owner or the person keeping or
harboring said dog is known, the Chief of Police or any person authorized
by him in that behalf or the Poundmaster, if there is one, shall forthwith
serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the
owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog, 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 seven
days after the service of the notice.[2]
C.
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 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.
D.
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 for seven days after seizure, when notice has not
been and cannot be given as above set forth, and if the owner or person
keeping or harboring said dog has not claimed said dog and paid a
redemption fee, plus a daily maintenance fee, if any, per day, as
set forth in the Township Fee Schedule Ordinance,[3] and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of seizure and
the owner or person keeping or harboring said dog has not produced
a license and registration tag for said dog, the Chief of Police or
the Poundmaster may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing
as little pain as possible.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24]
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered
to perform any duty under this article is hereby authorized to go
upon any premises to seize for impounding any dog or dogs which he
may lawfully seize and impound when such officer or agent is in immediate
pursuit of such dog or dogs, except upon the premises of the owner
of the dog if said owner is present and forbids the same.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog
shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon the public streets
or in any public park or in any public building or in any other public
place within the Township of Waterford in the County of Camden.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog
shall suffer or permit it to be upon the public streets or in any
of the public places of the Township of Waterford unless such dog
is accompanied by a person and is securely confined and controlled
by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
[Amended 2-22-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-5]
A.
Muzzling. The Township Committee may designate any time during which
dogs outside the premises shall be muzzled, such designation to be
by publication at least three times in a newspaper in which legal
notices of the Township may be published, and after such publication
no person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit it upon
a public highway, public place or outside the premises occupied by
the owner during the period designated unless such dog wears a muzzle
securely fastened over its jaws in such a manner that it cannot bite.
B.
Care of animals. No owner, caretaker, guardian or handler shall withhold
proper shelter, protection from weather, veterinary care and immune
care to any animal. No owner, caretaker, guardian or handler shall
fail to provide his or her animal with sufficient food and drinkable
water on a daily basis. Food and drinkable water must be in an animal
food consumption or water consumption type container, feeder or waterer.
C.
Unnecessary suffering and cruelty. No animal shall be subjected to
unnecessary suffering and cruelty such as subjecting the animal to
prolonged fear, injury, pain or physical abuse. Interaction with humans
and other animals shall not be unreasonably withheld. Any individual,
currently licensed by the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
to practice veterinary medicine, who is acting within his or her scope
of practice to deliver acceptable and medically sound veterinary care
to an animal shall be exempt from this subsection.
D.
Extreme weather. In extreme weather below 32° and above 95°
and in major storms where evacuation is recommended, all outdoor dogs
and indoor/outdoor cats (with the exception of feral cats) must be
brought indoors, whether tethered or kenneled, unless the kennel is
a conditioned space where the animal is protected from this type of
adverse weather. A conditioned space is an area that a person should
reasonably know would not pose an adverse risk to the health or safety
of the animal based on the animal's size, physical condition or thickness
of the animal's hair or fur.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog
shall permit or suffer it to do any injury or to do any damage or
to commit any nuisance upon the property of others.
A dog which has attacked or bitten any human
being or which habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals is
hereby defined to be vicious for the purpose of this section, unless
the facts indicate that such attack or dog bite resulted from some
act on the part of the person bitten or attacked which provoked the
incident. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police[1] or the Poundmaster to have a dog which has attacked or
bitten a human being impounded if the owner thereof is unknown (or
to quarantine such dog at the home of the owner, if known) for a period
of 10 days. If the Chief of Police or the Poundmaster deems a dog
to be vicious, it shall be his duty to prefer charges in the Municipal
Court against the owner thereof, if known, alleging the vicious nature
of the dog. If the Municipal Court Judge finds the evidence presented
substantiates such charge, he shall order the dog destroyed by the
Chief of Police or the Poundmaster at the end of the ten-day quarantine
or impounded for an additional ten-day period, at the end of which
the dog shall be examined by a licensed veterinarian who shall ascertain
whether the dog is rabid and shall issue a certificate as to its condition
to the Poundmaster.
[Amended 12-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-24; 2-22-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-5]
A.
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to
comply with this article or with the rules and regulations promulgated
by the State Department of Health governing the sanitary conduct and
operation of kennels, pet shops, shelters and pounds to preserve sanitation
therein and to prevent the spreading of rabies and other diseases
of dogs within and from such establishments shall be liable to a penalty
of not less than $5 nor more than $50.
B.
For any violation of this article other than a kennel, shelter or pet shop, the penalty shall be assessed in accordance with § 1-15 of the Waterford Township Code unless a penalty is specifically stated otherwise for a particular violation.
C.
Each and every violation of and nonconformance with
this article or each day that any provision of this article shall
have been violated shall be construed as a separate and distinct violation
thereof.
