Township of Boonton, NJ Dogs and Other Pets

Any person who shall possess, maintain, house or harbor any dog or other pet, or otherwise have custody of any such dog or other pet, whether or not the owner of such dog or other pet.

[Added 4-11-2005 by Ord. No. 694]

PERSON

An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association of persons.

PET

A domesticated animal (other than a disability assistance animal) kept for amusement or companionship.

[Added 4-11-2005 by Ord. No. 694]

RUN AT LARGE

Includes the running, sitting or standing of any dog in the Township of Boonton unattended and not under strict control of same responsible person able to control the dog.

STRICT CONTROL

When a dog is leashed, tied, carried or at heel position beside a competent person and obedient to the person's command.

§ 71-2 License and registration tag required.

Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of January in each year, apply for and procure from the official designated by the governing body to license dogs a license and official metal registration tag for each dog so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon each dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto. No license shall issue unless proof of rabies immunization is submitted with the license application. Dog licenses, registration tags and renewals thereof shall expire on January 31 in each year.

The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age during a month other than January or any dog which attains licensing age during a month other than January shall make application for a license and registration tag for such dog and shall pay the necessary fee for the same within 30 days after such acquisition or age attainment.

Any new resident of the Township who owns, keeps or harbors a dog of licensing age shall make application for license and registration tag for such dog within 30 days of establishing residency in Boonton Township.

§ 71-3 Fees; disposition; exemption.

The fee for said license and registration tag shall be in accordance with the schedule of fees for licenses, permits and activities as provided for in Chapter 82, Fees, of the Code of Boonton Township.

The person applying for the license and registration tag shall pay a fee for the licensing of each dog, part of which sum shall be retained by the Township for the Dog License Trust Account and part of which shall be transmitted to the State Department of Health as required by state statute.

Pursuant to state law, a sum shall be collected and remitted to the State Department of Health for the Pilot Clinic Fund.

Pursuant to state law, a sum shall be collected and remitted to the State Department of Health for the Animal Population Control Fund from persons applying for the license and metal registration tag for dogs that have not been neutered to prevent reproduction.

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.

Each person applying for a dog license for a dog that is alleged to have been neutered to prevent reproduction shall present proof of neutering in the form of a veterinarian's certificate stating that the animal has been so neutered or, in the alternative, an affidavit of that fact duly sworn to before a person authorized to take oaths and acknowledgments in the State of New Jersey, such as a notary public.

For each annual renewal, the fee for the license and for the registration tag shall be the same as for an initial license and tag, except that any person who should have procured a license and official metal registration tag pursuant to § 71-2 above during the month of January but who failed to do so shall pay a late charge in accordance with Chapter 82, Fees, for each dog, in addition to the normal licensing fees, together with any other fines due to summonses issued that may be imposed on him for failure to obtain a dog license prior to February 1.

§ 71-4 Prohibited acts.

No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall allow said dog to:

(1)

Run at large at any time within the Township.

(2)

Be off the premises of any such person unless under the strict control of some responsible person able to control the dog.

(3)

Cause any injury to any person or property in any road, park or public place in the Township.

(4)

Be or become a public nuisance or create an unsafe or unhealthful condition.

(5)

Habitually bark, howl or cry. The habitual barking, howling or crying of a dog or dogs in the Township of Boonton is hereby declared to be a disturbing noise and shall constitute a nuisance.

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.

Removal of dog or pet feces/solid waste.

[Added 2-9-2004 by Ord. No. 673; amended 4-11-2005 by Ord. No. 694]

(1)

Purpose. The purpose of this section is to protect the health, safety and welfare of all those frequenting this municipality by establishing requirements for the proper disposal of dog or pet feces/solid waste and preventing the needless health hazards and nuisances caused by dog or pet feces/solid waste upon public and private property located within the Township.

(2)

Nuisances prohibited; curbing of dogs or other pets; responsibility of owner/keeper.

(a)

Any person owning or in charge of any dog or pet which soils, defiles, defecates on or commits any nuisance of any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, bypath, play area, park or any place where people congregate or walk, or upon any public property whatsoever, including the portion of the street lying between the curblines and commonly used for curbing dogs or pets, or upon any private property without permission of the owner of said property, shall immediately remove all feces/solid waste deposited by any such dog or pet in a sanitary manner. Owners of private property shall likewise dispose of any dog or pet feces/solid waste removed from their own private property in a sanitary manner.

(b)

The dog or other pet feces/solid waste removed from the aforementioned designated areas shall be disposed of by the person owning or in charge of the dog or pet by placement in a designated waste receptacle, or other sealed, nonabsorbent, leakproof container, and discarded in a refuse container which is regularly emptied by the municipality or some other refuse collector, or by disposal into a system designed to convey domestic sewage for proper treatment and disposal.

(c)

The provisions of this article shall not apply to dog or pet owners and keepers who require the use of a disability assistance animal while such animal is being used for that purpose.

§ 71-5 Enforcement.

The Mayor and Township Committee of the Township of Boonton are hereby empowered to appoint a Dog Warden or Animal Control Officer or may designate some other authority to enforce this article. They shall also have the power to enter into a contract with one or more persons, either individual or corporate, to exercise the duties of Dog Warden or Animal Control Officer and to enforce the provisions of this article.

All police officers of the Township of Boonton, regular and special, and the Dog Warden or Animal Control Officer are hereby given authority and are charged with the duty of enforcing this article.

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 impoundment 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.

Any animal, other than a dog, found running at large within the Township limits may be declared a nuisance and impounded or disposed of according to law when such action is required either to protect the animal or to protect the residents of the Township.

§ 71-6 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 5-8-1989 by Ord. No. 405; 8-27-1990 by Ord. No. 438; 2-9-2004 by Ord. No. 673; 4-9-2007 by Ord. No. 739]

Any person who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine which shall be a minimum of $25 and be subject to the penalties provided in § 1-15 of this Code.

§ 71-7 Limit on number of dogs.

[Added 7-18-2006 by Ord. No. 725]

No more than a total of five dogs of licensing age shall be kept, maintained or harbored in any one household or on any premises. All persons having harbored or controlled more than the maximum number of dogs permitted under this provision on or before the effective date of this section shall be permitted to keep said dogs, with license, but these dogs, after death, disposal or other attrition, shall not be replaced.