[Adopted 6-23-1980 as Ch. V of the
1980 Code]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any dog off the property of his owner and not under the strict
control of a competent person.
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, includes every
person having a right of property in such dog and every person who
has such dog in his keeping.
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.
An enclosure or pen out of which an animal cannot escape.
A leash or chain which an animal cannot break or sever.
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed
without charge.
When a dog is leashed, carried, or at heel beside a competent
person and obedient to that person's command.
Any animal which has on more than one occasion bitten a person
without provocation or has been declared by a Municipal Judge to be
a vicious animal.
A.
License required. No person shall keep or harbor any
dog of licensing age within the Borough without first obtaining a
license and registration tag therefor, to be issued by the Borough
Clerk upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed
fee, and no person shall keep or harbor any dog in the Borough except
in compliance with the provisions of this article.
B.
Application; when made.
(1)
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of
licensing age shall annually, in the month of January, apply for and
procure from the Board of Health a license and 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)
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. Any new resident of the Borough
who owns, keeps or harbors a dog of licensing age shall make application
for a license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days of
establishing residence in the Borough.
C.
Application requirements. 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- or short-haired
variety, and also the name, street and post office address of the
owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog. Evidence of
current rabies vaccination shall be provided.
D.
Fees. The annual fee for dog licenses and registration
tags shall be as provided in § 111-3A.
(1)
The fee for each annual renewal of the license and
the registration tag shall be the same as for the original license
and tag. Dog licenses, registration tags and the renewals thereof
shall expire on January 31 in each year. All license and registration
tag fees shall be payable in full for the entire amount thereof, regardless
of the date applied for or issued.
(2)
A late charge fee shall be paid by all applicants
for licenses under this article where the licenses were not applied
for within the time limitations set forth in this article.
E.
Exceptions. Dogs used as guides for blind persons
and commonly known as "seeing eye dogs," "service dogs" and "hearing-ear
dogs" shall be licensed and registered as other dogs, except that
the owners of such dogs shall not be required to pay any fees.
F.
Removal of tags. No person, except an officer in the
performance of his duties, shall remove a registration tag from the
collar of any dog without consent of his owner, nor shall any person
attach a registration tag to a dog for which it was not issued.
A.
Running at large.
(1)
No dog shall run at large at any time within the Borough.
(2)
No person owning, keeping, or harboring a dog shall
permit or suffer it to be off the premises of any such person unless
under the strict control of some responsible person able to control
the dog.
(3)
All dogs must be on a leash or in a carrier when on a public street
or sidewalk within the Borough of Mountain Lakes.
[Added 10-14-2013 by Ord. No. 04-13]
B.
Restriction on public and private property. No person
owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit, suffer or take such
animal upon any private property whatsoever without the consent of
the owner, or upon public property in violation of the following rules:
(1)
No dog shall be allowed on school property except
in wooded areas or except with the specific permission of the school
principal.
(2)
No dog shall be allowed on Borough-owned playfields
or playgrounds.
(3)
No dog shall be allowed on Borough-owned beaches.
C.
Property damage; responsibility of owner of dog.
(1)
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog or other
animal shall permit or suffer it to do any injury or damage to any
lawn, garden, shrubbery, flowers, trees, grounds or other property.
(2)
In addition to any fines levied, as a result of violations
of this article, the owner of any animal which causes damage to another's
property shall be responsible for the damage caused.
D.
Personal injury; vicious or potentially dangerous
dogs.
(1)
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog or other
animal shall permit it to do any injury to any person or to create
a condition hazardous to the public health, safety or welfare. Any
dog causing injury under circumstances which give reasonable cause
for the Animal Control Officer to believe that it may be vicious or
potentially dangerous shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions
of N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 through 4:19-37.
[Amended by Ord. No. 3-96]
(2)
The owner shall confine, within a building or secure
enclosure, every vicious or dangerously hostile dog or other animal
and not take such dog or other animal out of such building or secure
enclosure unless such dog or other animal is securely muzzled and
leashed or caged.
E.
Disturbing the peace. No person shall keep, harbor
or maintain any dog or other animal which habitually barks, howls
or cries so as to disturb the public peace. The keeping of such dog
or other animal, or fowl, whether licensed or not, which by habitual
barking, howling or crying or other noise disturbs or annoys any person
is unlawful and is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Each day
that the violation continues after official notice of complaint shall
constitute a separate offense.
F.
Confining of female dogs. Every female dog in season
shall be kept confined in a building or secure enclosure or in a veterinary
hospital or boarding kennel in such a manner that such female dog
cannot come in contact with another dog, except for intentional breeding
purposes. Nothing herein shall prevent the owner from walking and
exercising such dog on that owner's property, provided that the dog
is controlled and secured by an adequate leash. The Animal Control
Officer shall take into custody and impound any female dog in season
off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring
such dog.
A.
The Borough Manager shall designate an individual
or agency to serve as Animal Control Officer. It shall be the duty
of the Animal Control Warden to enforce the provisions of this article
and to receive and investigate complaints against animals.
B.
The provisions of this article shall be enforced by
the Animal Control Officer of the Borough and any police officer of
the Borough.
A.
Causes for impounding. The Animal Control Officer
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 the dog, which the Animal Control Officer has
reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2)
Any dog off the premises of the owner, or of the person
keeping or harboring the 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 the dog.
B.
Impounding fees. An owner may obtain the release of
his animal upon payment of maintenance and recovery fees, as provided
in § 111-3A.
(1)
When dogs are found running at large, and proof of
the dog's ownership is obtained by the Animal Control Officer, such
dogs need not be impounded, but the officer may cite the owners of
such dogs for violation of the provisions of this article.
(2)
The person who owns, keeps, or harbors any dog which
is subsequently injured or killed and which is treated or disposed
of by either the Animal Control Officer or a veterinarian designated
by the warden shall be responsible for and shall pay and satisfy all
costs and charges of such treatment and/or disposal.
C.
Access to premises. The Animal Control Officer, or
any police officer of the Borough, 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 the owner is present and forbids the same.
D.
Interference with officer's duties. No person shall
hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to
perform any duty under this article or seek to release any animal
in the custody of such persons.
E.
Notice of seizure.
(1)
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 the dog is known, any person authorized by the Animal
Control Officer shall forthwith serve on the person whose address
is given on the collar, or on the owner or person keeping or harboring
the dog if known, a notice in writing stating that the dog has been
seized and shall be liable to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed
within seven days after the service of the notice.
(2)
A notice under this subsection 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.
F.
Disposition of unclaimed dogs. When any dog so seized
has been detained for seven days after notice is given as above set
forth, or has been detained for seven days after seizure when no notice
has been given as above set forth, and if the owner or person keeping
or harboring the dog has not claimed the dog and paid all expenses
incurred by reason of its detention, and if the dog is unlicensed
at the time of the seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring
the dog has not produced a license and registration tag for the dog,
the Animal Control Officer may cause the dog to be destroyed, in a
manner causing as little pain as possible, or to be offered for adoption.
G.
Disposition of animals other than dogs. Any animal,
other than a dog, found running at large within the Borough limits
may be impounded or disposed of according to law when such action
is required either to protect the animal or to protect the residents
of the Borough.
The Animal Control Officer shall annually cause
a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the
Borough and shall report to the Borough Clerk, the Board of Health,
and to the State Department of Health the result thereof, on or before
September 1 of each year, setting forth in separate columns the names
and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring unlicensed dogs
and the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by each
of such persons, together with a complete description of each of the
unlicensed dogs.
A.
No person shall own, possess, harbor or have in custody
in the Borough any dog over six months of age unless such dog has
been vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian. Such vaccination
shall be repeated annually thereafter, or as required by law.
B.
The person owning, harboring or having custody of
any such dog shall obtain from the veterinarian who vaccinates the
dog against rabies a certificate, in duplicate, on forms supplied
by the Board of Health and available at the office of the Borough
Manager at the Borough Hall, and shall, within 10 days after bringing
the dog into the Borough, if the dog was vaccinated before being brought
into the Borough, or within 10 days of such vaccination, deliver both
copies of such certificate to the Borough Clerk, who shall return
one copy to such person marked with the date of filing of the same,
together with a metal tag bearing a number corresponding to the number
of the certificate. The second copy of the certificate shall be filed
by the Borough Manager with the records of the Board of Health. The
metal tag shall immediately be attached to the collar or harness of
the dog, where it shall remain at all times, except if the dog is
in a wholly enclosed area on the premises of the owner.
When a person has been bitten by a dog, the
individual, or his parent or guardian if he is a minor, shall immediately
notify the police.
A.
When the owner or keeper of any dog is notified by
the police that the dog has bitten any individual or individuals,
the owner or keeper of the dog shall comply with the following procedures.
He shall:
B.
The owner of any dog shall ensure that such dog shall
not bite a person while such person is on or in a public place, or
lawfully on or in a private place, including the property of the owner
of the dog. Such owner shall be in violation of this section, regardless
of the former viciousness of such dog or the owner's knowledge of
such viciousness.
C.
For the purpose of this section, a person is lawfully
upon the private property of such owner when he is on the property
in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by the laws of this
state or the laws or postal regulations of the United States or when
he is on such property upon the invitation, express or implied, of
the owner thereof.
D.
The conduct of a dog shall be charged to the owner
thereof, and the owner shall be deemed to have permitted any dog who
acts contrary to the requirements of this article to act so, and such
owner shall be charged with the violation thereof.
A.
License required. Any person who keeps or operates,
or proposes to establish, a kennel or pet shop shall apply to the
Borough Clerk for a license entitling him to keep or operate such
an establishment. Any person holding such a 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.
B.
Application information.
(1)
The application shall contain the following information:
(2)
Each application shall be accompanied by the written
approval of the Health Officer of the Board of Health that the establishment
or proposed establishment complies with local and state rules governing
the location of and sanitation at such establishment.
C.
License term. All licenses issued for a kennel or
pet shop shall state the purpose for which the establishment is maintained.
Any such license shall be issued for the calendar year only and shall
expire on June 30 of the year issued, unless otherwise revoked.
D.
License fees. The annual license fees for kennels
and pet shops shall be as provided in § 111-3A.
E.
Causes for revocation. All licenses issued for a kennel
or pet shop shall be subject to revocation by the Borough on recommendation
of the State Department of Health or sanitation officers for failure
to comply with the rules and regulations of the State Department of
Health or the Board of Health, after the owner has been afforded a
hearing by either the State Department of Health or the Board of Health.
F.
Control of dog off premises. No dog kept in a kennel
or pet shop shall be permitted off such premises, except on a leash,
in a crate or under other safe control.
G.
Reports to State Department of Health. The Borough
Clerk shall forward to the State Department of Health a list of all
kennels, pet shops 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.
[Added by Ord. No. 4-82]
A.
Any person who shall violate any provision of § 79-2 of this article shall be penalized by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $50 for each offense, except that for the first offense in cases of violations of § 79-2B the penalty shall be not less than $1 nor more than $50, to be disposed of in accordance with law.
B.
Unless otherwise specified herein, or in N.J.S.A.
19:15-19, for a particular offense, any person who shall violate or
fail or refuse to comply with any other term or provision of this
article shall be liable for a fine of not more than $250. It is recommended
that a minimum fine of $25 be imposed for a first violation and a
minimum fine of $35 be imposed for a second violation, if the violation
occurs within one year of the first offense.
