[Adopted 12-26-1969 as Ch. 19 of the 1969 Code]
[Added 9-29-2004[1]]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AT LARGE
A dog off the premises of the person owning or keeping or harboring it and not in a crate or other safe control, or not securely fastened to a tether, leash or chain, held by its owner or other person capable of controlling said dog.
DOG
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
OWNER
The person or persons owning, controlling, keeping or harboring a dog.
PROLONGED BARKING
Continual barking or howling for over three hours.
REPEATED HABITUAL BARKING
Continuous barking or crying without pauses of one minute or longer, for a period of more than 20 minutes between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., or for a period of more than 10 minutes between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., on at least two occasions over a three-month period.
[1]
This ordinance provided for the addition of several new sections to this article and consequently all of the sections within this chapter (specifically Arts. I and II) were renumbered to accommodate the additional sections.
No dog shall run at large at any time in this municipality, except that this provision shall not apply to hunting dogs during hunting season or while they are being trained, provided that at all times such dogs are under the control of the owner or trainer.
No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any dog shall suffer or permit such dog to go or be off the premises owned by or in the possession of such person unless the dog shall be accompanied by a person who is capable of controlling such dog and who has the dog securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
[Amended 12-12-2005]
No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any dog shall permit such dog to do any injury or damage to or to commit any nuisance upon any sidewalk, street or thoroughfare, in or upon any public property or in or upon the property of persons other than the owner or person having the care, custody or control of such dog.
[Amended 12-12-2005]
No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any dog shall suffer or permit it to do any injury or damage to any lawn, shrubbery, trees, flowers, grounds or any property of persons other than the owner or person having the care, custody or control of such dog.
[Amended 9-29-2004]
Any person who keeps, owns, harbors or maintains a dog shall be required to restrain the dog, whether inside or outside of the owner’s or guardian’s structure and/or property, from repeated habitual and unwarranted barking or crying, any time of the day or night, so as not to annoy or disturb neighboring residents or the public peace.
[Added 9-29-2004]
In order to abate the nuisance created by the prolonged barking of a dog or dogs, Dog Control Officers may enter the yard and/or open structures of the property and may seize any such dog or dogs from the property where the violation is occurring if the officer is unable to contact the owner or if the owner is unable to take action to stop the barking or howling.
[Added 9-29-2004]
Any person who, while walking with or escorting a dog on a leash, allows said dog to deposit excrement on public or private property, other than the property of the dog’s owner or the property of the person walking or escorting the dog on a leash, shall immediately remove such excrement.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 79-9, Liability for injury done by dog, which immediately followed, as amended, was repealed 5-10-2006. This ordinance also redesignated former §§ 79-10 and 79-11 as §§ 79-9 and 79-10, respectively.
[Amended 11-24-1981; 10-27-1983; 9-13-1984; 10-8-1997]
A. 
Each and every dog shall be duly licensed and shall bear evidence of such license at all times, in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey. The annual fee for such licenses shall be $10 for each dog, plus an additional $0.20 for each dog license, which sum is to be forwarded by the Township of Colts Neck to the Department of Health of the State of New Jersey for funding of the Pilot Clinic Fund. There shall be a charge of $1 for each dog for the issuance of required registration tags. After January 31 of each licensing renewal period any owner who has not properly registered his or her animal with the Township will be fined $5 per license. Finally, an additional charge of $5 shall be paid for each dog of reproductive age which has not had its reproductive capacity permanently altered through sterilization. The Township of Colts Neck hereby adopts by reference the rules and regulations now promulgated or to be promulgated by the Department of Health of the State of New Jersey, which are designed to carry out the provisions of the legislation establishing the Animal Population Control Fund. Upon receipt of the additional funds referred to immediately above, the Township of Colts Neck is to forward the same to the Department of Health of the State of New Jersey. All licenses, registration tags and renewals shall expire on the last day of January of each year. 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" or dogs used to assist deaf persons and commonly known as "hearing ear 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.
[Amended 5-13-2009]
B. 
The Township Committee shall have the power to appoint an Animal Control Officer or other designated authority, whose duty it shall be to enforce the provisions of this article. The Township Committee shall also have power to enter into a contract with one or more persons for the exercise of the duty of dogcatcher, dog warden or Animal Control Officer and to enforce the provisions of this article.
C. 
The Animal Control Officer or any other person appointed for the purpose 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 running at large in this municipality.
(2) 
Any dog off the premises of the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on his or her collar and not controlled by a leash as provided in this article.
(3) 
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring said dog.
D. 
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven days after notice when notice can be given, or has been detained for seven days after seizure when notice cannot be given, in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, 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 seizure and detention, 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 Animal Control Officer or other designated authority may cause the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
[Amended 10-8-1997; 3-8-2006]
Except as otherwise specified in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.19, a violation of any provision of this article shall be punishable as provided in § 1-9 of this Code.