[Adopted by Ord. No. 20-1991 (§ 5-6 of the Revised General Ordinances)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this article.
CAT
Any member of the domestic feline species; male, female, or altered.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
CATTERY
Any room or group of rooms, cage, or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
LICENSING AUTHORITY
The agency or department of Spring Lake 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
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, includes every person having a right of property (or custody) in such cat and every person who has such cat in his/her keeping, or 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, organization, or institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
A. 
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor, or maintain any cat over seven months of age within Spring Lake, 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 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 recommended by the state.
D. 
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements of such vaccination 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 regimen 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 of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the Borough Clerk of the Borough of Spring Lake, or other official legislation tag with license number or a designated by the Borough Council, a license 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 thereto. Acceptable methods of displaying license number shall include, but are not limited to, breakaway or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves are not transferable.
B. 
Time for applying for license. The owner of any newly acquired cat of licensing age, or of any cat which attains licensing age, shall make application for license tag or sleeve for such cat within 10 days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping a cat within the Borough of Spring Lake for not longer than 90 days.
C. 
Cats brought into Spring Lake.
(1) 
Any person who shall bring, or cause to be brought into Spring Lake, any cat licensed in another state for the current year, and bearing registration tag or sleeve, and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Borough of Spring Lake for a period of more than 90 days, shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
(2) 
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into Spring Lake any unlicensed cat, and shall keep same or permit same to be kept within the Borough of Spring Lake 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. The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color, and markings of the cat for which license and registration are sought, and whether it is of a long- or shorthaired variety; also the name, street, and post office address of the owner, and the person who shall keep or harbor such cat. The information on the application and the registration number issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Borough Clerk or other local official designated to license cats in the Borough.
E. 
License forms and tags. License forms and official tags or sleeves shall be furnished by the Borough and shall be numbered serially, and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the Borough.
F. 
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certification of exemption; requirement for license. The Borough Clerk or other official designated by the Borough Council to license cats therein shall not grant any such license and 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 exempt as provided by § 107-18D. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian, or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
G. 
License fee schedule. A license shall be issued after payment of a fee of $8 for each unneutered cat, and $5 for each neutered cat. Persons who fail to obtain a license as required within the time period specified in this section, will be subject to a delinquent fee of $5.
[Amended 12-16-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-016]
H. 
Fees, renewals, expiration date of license.
(1) 
License from another municipality shall be accepted. The person applying for the license and registration tag and/or sleeve shall pay the fee fixed or authorized. The fee for the renewal of license and registration tag or sleeve shall be the same as for the original, and the license, registration tag or sleeve and renewal thereof shall expire on the thirty-first day of January in the following year.
(2) 
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall be required in the licensing year for the cat in the Borough of Spring Lake. Any valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be accepted by this Borough as evidence of compliance.
I. 
Loss of license. If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced or lost, the Borough Clerk may issue a duplicate license and/or registration sleeve for that particular cat a fee of $3.50.
[Amended 12-16-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-016]
J. 
Proof of licensing. Proof of licensing shall be produced by any person owning, keeping, maintaining, or harboring a cat, upon the request of any health official, police officer, animal control officer, or other authorized person.
K. 
Interfering with persons performing duties under this article. No person shall hinder, molest, or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article.
L. 
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded to the Borough Treasurer, and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the Borough and shall be used for the following purposes only: collecting, keeping, and disposing of cats liable to seizure, for local prevention and control of rabies, providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction of the Board of Health for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies, and for administering the provisions of this article. Any unexpended balance remaining in such special account shall be retained until the end of the third fiscal year following, and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this article. At the end of the 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 Borough of Spring Lake any amount then in such account which is in excess of the total amount paid into the special account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this article shall be liable to the penalties as provided in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty, for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name of the Board of Health or by and in the name of the Borough of Spring Lake.