[Adopted 11-19-1935, amended 9-22-1938; 5-17-1955; 12-11-1962; 11-26-____; 2-12-1974; 10-13-1981, 12-22-1987; 8-14-1990; 7-13-1993 (Sec.
16:1 of the 1975 General Ordinances)]
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.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, shall mean and
include every person having a right of property in such dog and every
person who has such dog in his keeping.
Any place of business which is not part of a kennel, wherein
animals, including, but not limited to, dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles,
rabbits, hamsters or gerbils, are kept or displayed chiefly for the
purpose of sale to individuals for personal appreciation and companionship
rather than for business or research purposes.[1]
An establishment for the confinement of dogs or other animals
seized either under the provisions of this article or otherwise.[2]
Any establishment where dogs or other animals are received,
housed and distributed.[3]
A vicious or potentially dangerous dog is hereby defined
as follows:
Any dog with a known propensity, tendency or
disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury to or otherwise
endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals.
Any dog which attacks a human being or domestic
animal without provocation.
Any dog which is owned or harbored for the purpose
of dogfighting activities or any dog trained for dogfighting activities.
Any dog which is deemed to be vicious or potentially
dangerous by the Municipal Court in accordance with the provisions
of N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq.[4]
A.
License required. No person shall keep or harbor any
dog of licensing age within the Township of Burlington, in the County
of Burlington, without first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued
by the Clerk of the Township or any other local official duly authorized
to issue such licenses by the Township Council of the Township of
Burlington, 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.
B.
Licensing procedure.
(1)
Procurement of tag and license. Any person who shall
own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of
January, apply for and procure from the licensing official in the
Township a license and an official metal registration tag for each
such dog so owned, kept or harbored, and shall place upon such dog
a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
(2)
Application; information required; preservation of
records. 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 a long- 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 Township Clerk or any other local official designated
to license dogs in the municipality. In addition, such official or
officials shall forward similar information to the State Department
of Health and Senior Services each month, on forms furnished by said
Department. Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of their
applications.
(3)
Fees; annual sum; exemption.
(a)
Any person applying for a license and registration
of any dog within the Township of Burlington shall pay a fee of $12
for neutered/spayed dogs and $15 for nonneutered/nonspayed dogs and,
for each annual renewal of the license and registration tag, the fee
shall be the same as for the original license and registration tag,
and said license and registration tag, and the renewal thereof, shall
expire on the last day of January of each year.
[Amended 4-10-2007 by Ord. No. 07-OR-009]
(b)
Licenses and registration tags issued pursuant to this article shall expire on the last day of January in each year. Any person who fails to obtain a license by the last day of January in the issuing year and subsequently applies for this license shall, in addition to the license fee, pay a late charge of $5 to cover the increased cost of administration. This charge shall not apply to licenses issued under Subsections C and D of this section.
(c)
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 and registered in the same manner as other dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor. Dogs licensed pursuant to § 122-7 of this article are totally exempt from the provisions of this section.[1]
C.
Newly acquired dogs. The owner of any newly acquired
dog of licensing age or of any dog which attains licensing age shall
make application for license and registration tag for such dog within
10 days after such acquisition or age attainment.
D.
Dogs brought into the Township from other municipalities.
(1)
Licensed. Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Township of Burlington, in the County of Burlington, any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag, and 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 be licensed under § 122-7 of this article.
(2)
Unlicensed. 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 be licensed under § 122-7 of this article.
E.
Removal of tag. 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.
Licensing procedure.
(1)
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 of the Township or other local official designated
to license dogs in the municipality for a license entitling him to
keep or operate such establishment.
(2)
Application requirements. The application shall describe
the premises where the establishment is located or is proposed to
be located, the purpose or purposes for which it is to be maintained,
and shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Burlington
County Health Department, showing compliance with the local and state
rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation at such
establishments.[1]
(3)
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 the last day of January of each year and be subject to revocation
by the Township Council on recommendations of the State Department
of Health and Senior Services or the Burlington County Health Department
for failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the State
Department or the Burlington County Health Department governing the
same after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State
Department or the Burlington County Health Department.[2]
(4)
Other license; transferability. Any person holding
such license shall not be required to secure individual licenses for
dogs owned by such licensee and kept at such establishment; such licenses
shall not be transferable to another owner or different premises.
B.
License fees. The annual fee for a kennel providing
accommodations for 10 or less dogs shall be $10, and for more than
10 dogs, $25. The annual license fee for a pet shop shall be $10.
No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound.
C.
Forwarding list to the state. The Clerk of the Township
or other local official designated to license dogs in the municipality
shall forward to the State Department of Health and Senior Services
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 names and addresses of the licensees and kinds of licenses issued.
D.
Regulation; leash required. 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.
Employment; enforcement of article. The Township Council
shall have the power to employ dogcatchers, whose duty it shall be
to enforce the provisions of this section of the article.
B.
Dog census. The Township Council of the Township shall
cause a canvass to be made annually in February of all dogs owned,
kept or harbored within the limits of the Township and shall report
to the Clerk of the Township, the Burlington County Health Department,
and the State Department of Health and Senior Services the result
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.[1]
C.
Impoundment procedure.
(1)
Seizure of dogs. A dogcatcher 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 Subsection C(2) and (3):
(a)
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.
(b)
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.
(c)
Any female dog in season off the premises of
the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
(2)
Notice to owner. If any dog so seized 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 said dog is known, the dogcatcher 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 disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within seven
days after the service of the notice.
(3)
Rabies detention. If a stray dog is suspected of having
rabies, it will be quarantined by the enforcing official for a period
of 10 days at the rate of $1 per day, to be paid by the owner.
(4)
Destruction of dogs. 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 all expenses incurred by reason of its detention,
including maintenance not exceeding $1 per day, and if the dog be
unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner or person keeping
or harboring said dog has not produced a license and registration
tag for said dog, the dogcatcher may cause the dog to be destroyed
in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
(5)
Records; report of seizure; report of sums collected.
The dogcatcher employed by the Township shall make a monthly report
to the Township Council, which report shall contain:
(6)
Entry. 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 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.
(7)
Interference. No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
B.
Running at large; prohibition. No person owning, keeping
or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon
the public streets, in any public parks, or in public place within
the Township of Burlington.
C.
Leash required; streets. 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 Burlington
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.
D.
Injury to private property. No person owning, keeping
or harboring a dog shall permit or suffer it to do any injury or to
do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.
E.
Muzzling. The Township Council may, by resolution,
designate any time during which dogs outside the premises upon which
they are kept shall be muzzled. Such designation shall be published
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 to be upon a public highway,
public place or outside the premises in which said dog is kept, during
the period designated, unless such dog wears a muzzle securely fastened
over its jaws in such a manner as it cannot bite.
A.
Regulation. Any dog determined to be vicious or potentially dangerous in accordance with the definition contained in § 122-5 of this article shall be subject to the regulations, control and registration requirements as set forth in N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq., which is hereby incorporated in its entirety in this section of the article, as supplemented by the additional provisions to be set forth hereinafter.
B.
Responsibility for cost and expenses. The owner of
a dog which is declared to be vicious or potentially dangerous shall
be responsible for all actual costs and expenses in impounding and
destroying the dog, and for such other notices and administrative
functions as may be required to be provided by the Township of Burlington.[1]
C.
Enforcement official. The Director of Public Safety/Chief
Law Enforcement Official or his designee is hereby made the enforcement
official for purposes of this article and all regulations promulgated
hereunder.
D.
Registration and licensing of potentially dangerous
dogs. The Township of Burlington shall issue a potentially dangerous
dog registration number and red identification tag, along with a Township
potentially dangerous dog license, upon a demonstration of sufficient
evidence by the owner to the dogcatcher that he has complied with
the orders of the Municipal Court. The last three digits of each potentially
dangerous dog registration number issued by the Township of Burlington
will be the three-number code assigned to the Township in the regulations
promulgated pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq. The dogcatcher shall
verify compliance, in writing, to the Township Clerk or other official
designated to license dogs in the Township. The fee to be paid annually
for a potentially dangerous dog license and each renewal thereof shall
be in the amount of $700.[2]
A.
General fees. License fees and other monies 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 the collection or receipt and shall be placed in a special
account separate from any of the other accounts of the Township, which
shall be used for the following purposes only.
(1)
Special account:
(a)
For collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs
liable to seizure under this article.
(b)
For local prevention and control of rabies.
(d)
For the payment of $0.50 to the Registrar of
Dogs for each license issued by virtue of this article and compensation
for services rendered in connection with the registration of dogs.
(e)
For all other purposes prescribed by the statutes
of New Jersey governing the subject and for administering the provisions
of this article.
(2)
General funds. 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 the 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 paid into said special account during the last
two fiscal years preceding.
A.
First violation. A fine of not less than $1 nor more
than $50 shall be imposed by the Municipal Court Judge of Burlington
Township upon any person who shall violate any of the following provisions
of this article:
B.
Second violation. A fine of not less than $5 nor more than $50 shall be imposed by the Municipal Court Judge of Burlington Township upon any person who shall violate the ordinance provisions listed under § 122-12 above for the second or subsequent violation or shall violate any of the following provisions of this article:
[Amended 10-11-2005 by Ord. No. 05-OR-027]
A.
Private property. No person owning, harboring, keeping
or in charge of any pet shall cause, suffer or allow such pet to soil,
defile, defecate on or commit any nuisance on any private property
without the permission of the owner of the property and without immediately
removing all feces deposited by such pet by any sanitary method approved
by the Department of Health and Senior Services, which information
is available in the Office of the Township Clerk.
B.
Public property. No person owning, harboring, keeping
or in charge of any pet shall cause, suffer or allow such pet 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 congregate or walk or upon any public property
or place whatsoever without immediately removing all feces deposited
by such pet by any sanitary method approved by the Department of Health
and Senior Services, which information is available in the Office
of the Township Clerk. The feces removed from the aforementioned designated
area shall be disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping
or in charge of any pet in the aforementioned sanitary method approved
by the Department of Health and Senior Services.
C.
Violation. Any person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge of any pet who does not comply with the provisions of Subsections A and B is subject to a fine of not more than $50 for the first violation of the said provisions. For a second or subsequent violation of these provisions, the violator shall be subject to the penalty provisions of Chapter 1 of the Code of the Township of Burlington, §§ 1-18 and 1-19.
D.
Exemption. Any owner or keeper who requires the use
of a disability assistance animal shall be exempt from the provisions
of this section while such animal is being used for that purpose.
E.
Enforcement. This section shall be enforced by the
Police Department of the Township of Burlington.
