A. Words defined. As used in this article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CITY
The City of Egg Harbor City in the County of Atlantic.
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 permanent 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 the proprietorship of a dog, includes every
person having a right of property in such dog and every person who
has such dog in his/her keeping.
PERSON
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association
of persons.
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.
SHELTER
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed
without charge.
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. The use of the masculine pronoun shall be construed
to refer to the feminine as well as the masculine gender.
No person shall own, keep or harbor any dog
within the City of Egg Harbor City in the County of Atlantic without
first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued by the City Clerk
upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and
no person shall own, keep or harbor any dog in said City except in
compliance with the provisions of this article.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog
of licensing age shall, in the month of January of every year, apply
for and procure from the City Clerk 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.
A. On January 1, 1999, and thereafter, a person applying
for a license and registration tag shall pay a fee of $7 for each
dog and, also, the sum of $1 for the registration tag for each dog.
Additionally, there shall be assessed a surcharge of $0.20 for each
dog licensed, said surcharge to be designated for the Pilot Clinic
Fund.
B. Further, there shall be an additional fee of $3 for
the licensing of any dog of reproductive age which has not had its
reproductive capacity permanently altered through sterilization, said
fee to be designated for the Animal Population Control Fund.
C. The renewal fees for licensing and registration shall
be the same as for the original license and tag, and said licenses,
registration tags and renewals thereof shall expire on the last day
of January of each year.
D. Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly
known as "Seeing Eye" dogs shall be licensed and registered as other
dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of
such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
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 within 10 days after
such acquisition or age attainment.
The application shall state the breed, sex,
age, color and markings of the dog for which a license and registration
tag are sought, and whether it is of a longhaired or shorthaired variety;
also, it shall state 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 City Clerk.
In addition, he/she shall forward similar information to the State
Department of Health each month, on forms furnished by said Department.
Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of the applications.
A. Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the City of Egg Harbor City in the County of Atlantic 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 City 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 §
97-34.
B. Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the City any unlicensed dog and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the City 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 §
97-34.
No person, except an officer in the performance
of his/her 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. Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish
a kennel, a pet shop, a shelter or a pound shall apply to the City
Clerk for a license entitling him/her to keep or operate such establishment.
B. 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 Health Officer of the Bureau of Health
of the City of Egg Harbor City, showing compliance with the local
and state rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation
at such establishments.
C. 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 City Council of the City
of Egg Harbor City on recommendations of the State Department of Health
or the Bureau of Health of the City for failure to comply with the
rules and regulations of the State Department or the Bureau of Health
of the City governing the same after the owner has been afforded a
hearing by either the State Department or the Bureau of Health of
the city.
D. 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.
The annual license fee for a kennel providing
accommodations for 10 or fewer 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.
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. License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this article, except registration tag fees,
shall be forwarded to the City Treasurer within 30 days after collection
or receipt and shall be placed in a special account separate from
any of the other accounts of the City 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; for providing antirabic treatment under the
direction of the local Bureau of Health for any person known or suspected
to have been exposed to rabies; and for all other purposes prescribed
by the statutes of New Jersey governing the subject and for administering
the provisions of this article. 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 City 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.
B. The registration tag fee for each dog as provided in §
97-29 shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the City Clerk to the State Department of Health.
The City Clerk 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.
The Director of Public Safety of the city, or
any person appointed for the purpose by the governing body, shall
promptly, after February 1 and annually thereafter, cause a canvass
to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the limits of
the City and shall report to the City Clerk, the Bureau of Health
of the City and to the State Department of Health 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.
A. The Dog Warden of the City of Egg Harbor City 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
section:
(1) Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring said dog which said official or his/her agent
or agents have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2) 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.
(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 or a registration tag, or the owner or the person keeping or
harboring said dog is known, the Dog Warden 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.
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/her 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 to
the City Clerk all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including
maintenance not exceeding $10 per day, and if the dog is 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 Dog Warden of the City of Egg Harbor City may cause the dog
to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible. Upon
such payment being made and such license and registration tag for
said dog being produced, the City Clerk shall issue a certificate
setting forth such payment, which certificate shall be presented to
the Dog Warden on the day on which it is issued, whereupon the Dog
Warden shall deliver said dog to the owner or person keeping or harboring
it.
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/she
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.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any
dog which habitually barks or cries between the hours of 10:00 p.m.
and 6:00 a.m. The times aforesaid shall be computed in accordance
with daylight saving time during any period in which daylight saving
time is in effect in the City of Egg Harbor City under and by virtue
of any state or federal statute, decree, regulation or proclamation.
Any police officer or Dog Warden shall have
power to kill any dog which may be running at large in this city,
during any time when such running at large is prohibited by this article
or which dog does not have a current registration tag on its collar,
provided that such dog cannot be safely taken up or impounded, but
no dog shall be subject to molestation under this section while on
the premises of its owner or keeper or while held or led by a chain
or line by any person.
A. No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog or
any other animal shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon the
public streets, in any public park, in any public building or in any
other public place or on any private property.
B. 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 City unless the 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.
C. This section shall not apply to an owner or person
keeping or harboring any dog within the limits of the City of Egg
Harbor City if said dog is a dog normally used for hunting; if said
dog normally used for hunting is accompanied by the owner, harborer,
keeper or custodian of said hunting dog; is permitted to run at large
at a time and place which is not in violation of any law of the State
of New Jersey regulating said hunting and said hunting dogs; and is
not permitted to run at large or trespass upon the lands of any person
other than said owner, harborer, keeper or custodian unless said owner
of said land shall give permission therefor.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon the public streets or any public park or in any public building, or in any other public place within the City of Egg Harbor City, from the first day of May to the first day of October, unless such dog wears a muzzle securely fastened over its jaws in such a manner that it cannot bite. Any dog found running at large during such period without being muzzled shall be placed in the City pound, and if not claimed by the owner or person keeping or harboring such dog during the time and in the manner provided in §
97-40 herein, shall be destroyed as therein provided.
A. Every dog found running at large or not under the direct control of some person as aforesaid shall be subject to seizure by officers of the Police Department or the Dog Warden and, unless reclaimed by the owner or the person keeping or harboring the same within the time and in the manner provided in §
97-40 of this article, shall be destroyed as therein provided.
B. The prohibition set forth in this section shall not
apply to Seeing Eye dogs which are on a leash or to K-9 dogs attached
to a law enforcement agency in the performance of its duty.
Notwithstanding anything herein contained, whenever
the Mayor of the City of Egg Harbor City shall deem it necessary,
he/she shall issue an order or proclamation prohibiting for a certain
time therein specified all dogs from running at large on any or all
streets, highways or other public places in this City unless such
dog is led by a line or chain so as to prevent such dog from biting
or becoming a menace to persons on said streets, highways or other
public place, and said Mayor may also order that all dogs must be
muzzled during such time as he/she may direct, which orders shall
be published in two newspapers of this City for three days consecutively.
If the Mayor shall deem it necessary, because of the existence or
threat or danger of an epidemic of rabies or other disease, or in
other case of extreme manner above prescribed, he/she shall issue
an order or proclamation absolutely prohibiting for a certain time
all dogs from being on any or all streets or part of any street or
streets, highway or other public place in this city.
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.
Any person who aids, assists or abets in the
violation of any of the provisions of this article shall be subject
to the penalties herein provided for.
[Amended 8-26-1999 by Ord. No. 16-1999]
Any person or persons violating any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine
not exceeding $1,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days
or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination
thereof,