[Adopted 1-23-1980]
[Amended 1-28-1981; 12-14-1983; 7-11-1984 by Ord No. 6-1984]
Each person who shall own, possess, keep or harbor any dog or dogs shall obtain an annual license for each dog and shall have the same registered and numbered with the Township Clerk and, for such license, shall pay the sum as provided in Chapter A120, Fees, as a license fee for each and every dog, which fee shall include a registration fee, as is required by state law. The Township Clerk is hereby further authorized to collect all such further sums that may be imposed as a condition upon the obtaining of a dog license by the New Jersey state statutes, including but not limited to surcharges for the New Jersey Pilot Clinic Fund and New Jersey Pet Population Control Projects.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996; 9-13-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005]
Dogs used and/or in training for use 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 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
Any person who harbors or possesses any animal for a period of 15 days or more shall, for the purposes of this article, be deemed to be the owner of the animal or animals so harbored or possessed.
A. 
Any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall procure a license from the Township Clerk, entitling him to keep or operate such establishment
[Amended 12-14-1983]
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 Township, showing compliance with the local and state rules and regulations governing location of and sanitation at such establishment.
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 June of each year and shall be subject to revocation by the Township Committee on recommendation of the State Department of Health or the local Board of Health for failure to comply with the rules and regulations thereof, after the owner has been afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health or the local Board of Health.
[Amended 4-12-2005 by Ord. No. 4-2005]
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.
E. 
The annual license fees for a kennel and a pet shop are as provided for in Chapter A120, Fees. No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound. For the purposes of this chapter, a “kennel” is defined as any building or land parcel used for the commercial keeping of five or more adult dogs.
[Amended 12-14-1983; 6-24-2008 by Ord. No. 6-2008]
A. 
License fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions of this article, except registration tag fees, shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the Township. Such account shall be used for the following purposes only: for collecting, keeping and disposing of animals seized, for local prevention and control of rabies, for providing antirabic treatment under the direction of the local Board of Health for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies, for all other purposes prescribed by the Revised 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. 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 Township 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.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
B. 
The registration tag fee for each dog shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection to the State Department of Health.
[Amended 12-14-1983]
[Amended 12-14-1983; 2-25-1987 by Ord. No. 3-1987; 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
The owner of every dog shall pay the license fees hereinbefore provided to the Township Clerk on or before the first day of March in each year, and, upon receipt of said license fee or fees, as the case may be, the Township Clerk shall thereupon issue to each person paying such license fee or fees a license for the keeping of such dog or dogs, which license shall contain the name and address of the owner of the dog, indicating the name, breed, sex and marking and also the number of such license, and shall bear the signature of the Township Clerk. All such licenses shall expire on the first day of March of the year following the issuance thereof. The Township Clerk shall also issue for each dog licensed a numbered metal tag, which tag shall be securely attached to a strap or collar worn around the neck of each dog so licensed, and each tag shall have marked thereon the words reflecting New Jersey and figures denoting the year for which the license was issued, Township of Pittsgrove and number of license. The Township Clerk may issue substitute tags upon a request from the owner or member of the owner's household above the age of 14 years, sufficient to satisfy the Township Clerk of the loss of the original tag. Any owner so obtaining such substitute tag or tags shall pay for each and every such substitute tag an amount as provided in Chapter A120, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Pittsgrove, New Jersey. Any owner who fails to pay the license fees herein required on or before the first day of March in each year shall, in addition thereto, pay a late charge in an amount as provided in Chapter A120, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Pittsgrove, New Jersey, upon payment of said license fee for each dog required to be licensed by this article.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
A. 
It shall be unlawful to keep or harbor any dog over the age of six months in the Township unless such dog has been inoculated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian and inoculations are continued at intervals required to prohibit the development of rabies, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the New Jersey State Department of Health.
B. 
No license shall be issued for any dog over the age of six months unless the applicant for such license presents proof that the dog has been inoculated for rabies and such inoculation will provide protection against the development of rabies during the term of the license, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the New Jersey State Department of Health.
[Amended 2-25-1987 by Ord. No. 3-1987; 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
Every person who shall own, keep, possess or harbor any dog or dogs in the Township of Pittsgrove who shall neglect or refuse to cause such dog or dogs to be licensed in the manner herein provided, on or before the first day of March in each year, shall be guilty of a violation of this article. Any owner of a dog licensed in another municipality, bringing such dog into the Township of Pittsgrove in any year, who shall cause the same to be licensed within 15 days thereafter shall not be required to pay any fee therefor and shall be taken and deemed to have complied with the article in respect thereto. Any owner failing to license a dog in accordance with this article shall, in addition to the license fee, pay a late charge in an amount as provided in Chapter A120, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Pittsgrove, New Jersey, upon payment of the license fee for each dog required to be licensed by this article.
Any dog owner who shall suffer or permit any unlicensed dog to run at large or who shall suffer or permit any dog, whether licensed or not, to run at large without the tag provided for in § 40-7 of this article or who shall cause or permit any unlicensed dog to wear such a tag shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
Any dog or dogs not licensed pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be subject to seizure by the duly appointed Animal Control Officer or any other person appointed for that purpose by the Township Committee, impounded and thereafter destroyed in accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16, and any dog who shall not have securely fixed or fastened to its neck a tag issued with the license for such dog shall be deemed unlicensed and subject to seizure. All dogs seized pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be impounded in the place designated by the Township Committee as the dog depository and shall be there kept until disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the statutes.
[Amended 10-10-1984 by Ord. No. 7-1984; 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
The Township Committee of the Township of Pittsgrove shall appoint annually some suitable and fit person, who shall be known as the “Animal Control Officer,” to hold office for a term of one year, and it shall be the duty of such Animal Control Officer, in addition to the implied duties hereby conferred, to carry out the provisions of this article. The Animal Control Officer shall transport all dogs impounded under this article to a depository approved by the Township Committee within a reasonable time after they are seized. Any moneys received by the Animal Control Officer as a result of the enforcement of this article or under the provisions of this article shall be turned over and paid by him to the Clerk of the Township of Pittsgrove.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
Any person who owns, harbors, keeps or possesses a female dog at any time or times while such female dog may be in heat must confine such female dog in such a way so as not to be accessible to male dogs, and any person not confining female dogs in heat in such a manner will be in violation of this article. No person who owns, harbors, keeps or possesses a female dog shall suffer or permit her to be in or upon any street, highway or alley or other public place in the Township of Pittsgrove or to trespass upon the property of other persons at any time or times while such female dog may be in heat, and any such female dog running at large, in violation of this section, shall be impounded by the Animal Control Officer or by any authorized law enforcement official of the Township of Pittsgrove and shall be in violation of this article.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
No person who owns, keeps, harbors or possesses any dog or dogs shall suffer or permit such dog or dogs to annoy persons by barking and/or howling to the extent it creates a public or private nuisance.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
The Animal Control Officer or Census Taker(s) or official canvasser of the Township of Pittsgrove or such person or persons as the Township Committee may, by resolution, designate shall annually cause a canvass of all dogs to be made in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.15.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
Any person who shall in any way hinder or interfere with the Animal Control Officer, official canvasser or canvasser(s) in the performance of the duties under the provisions of this article or who shall refuse to give information to the persons making the canvass under § 40-16 of this article or who shall break or damage such dog depository shall be deemed to have violated the provisions of this article.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
All person or persons owning, harboring, keeping or having charge of any horse, cow, swine, goat, poultry, dog, cat or any other animal shall prevent such animal or animals from running at large upon any public highway, street, alley or park or on private property without the consent of the owner or owners thereof.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
No person owning, keeping or harboring any animal shall permit or suffer it to do any injury or to do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.
[Amended 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996]
Any person who abandons any animal within the Township of Pittsgrove, whether such abandonment takes place on public or private property within the Township, shall be guilty of a violation of this article. “Abandonment” here is defined to mean desertion and relinquishment of all connection with or concern for the animal.
[Amended 12-14-1983; 8-14-1996 by Ord. No. 8-1996; 9-13-2005 by Ord. No. 9-2005; 3-14-2006 by Ord. No. 4-2006]
Anyone violating this section or article of this chapter shall be subject, upon conviction, to one or more of the following: imprisonment in the county jail for any term not exceeding 90 days; or by a fine of no less than $100 and not more than $2,000; or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.