[Amended 11-8-1994 by Ord. No. 94-15]
The words hereinafter defined shall have the
meanings herein indicated for the purposes of this article, as follows:
Off the premises of the owner and not under control of a
member of his immediate family or in custody of another either by
leash, cord or chains or otherwise as in the case of obedience-trained
dogs.
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Principal purpose being not for sale of dogs but enhancement
of a given breed of dogs kept on premises; included in purpose: birthing,
training, health checks, practice tracking, training for showing,
obedience trials, etc.
Any establishment, other than a pet shop or licensed veterinary
hospital, wherein or whereon the business of boarding or selling dogs
or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, or where six or more dogs
of licensing age are kept or maintained for any reason in or on any
one premises.
A chain, rope, leather strap or cord or sufficient tether
that will humanely bind the dog directly to the owner or keeper and
prevent such dog from moving free of the owner's or keeper's immediate
control.
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.
Every person who harbors or possesses any dog
for more than 15 days shall be deemed, for the purposes of this article,
to be the owner of the dog or dogs so harbored or possessed.
A person shall be deemed to have a dog in his
keeping whenever the ownership or custody of any dog is in an unemancipated
infant or other member of his or her household.
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.
Includes the building and the plot of land on which said
building stands in which the owner or custodian of a dog has a place
of abode or place of business in the Township.
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed
without charge.
No person shall keep or harbor any dog of licensing
age within the Township without first obtaining a license therefor,
to be issued by the Dog Issuing Authority or the Township upon application
by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and no person shall
keep or harbor any dog in said Township except in compliance with
the provisions of this article.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog
of licensing age shall, for the year 1993 and in the month of January
1993, and annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the Dog
Issuing Authority of the Township a license and official metal registration
tag for each dog so owned, kept or harbored, should place upon each
such dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened
thereto.
A.
The dog license fee shall be established from time
to time by resolution of the Township Council. The fee shall be separately
established for dogs that have been spayed or neutered and those for
whom the reproductive capacity has not been eliminated. A registration
tag shall be issued in conjunction with the license which shall be
good for one year. All licenses shall be renewed between January 1
and June 30 of each year. Proof of rabies vaccination shall be required.
[Amended 6-17-2014 by Ord. No. 14-06]
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.
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.
The Township shall forward to the State of New
Jersey, Department of Health, $1.20 for each dog which has been spayed
or neutered or as provided by N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.3a and the sum of $4.20
for each dog that has not been spayed or neutered.
The Dog Issuing Authority of the Township shall
promptly, after February 1 of each year and in no event later than
September 1 of each year, cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned,
kept or harbored within the limits of the Township and shall report
to the Clerk of the Township, the Board of Health and to the State
Department of Health the results thereof, setting forth in separate
columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring
such dogs, the number of licensed dogs owned, kept or harbored by
each of said persons, together with the registration numbers of each
of said dogs, and the number of unlicensed dogs owned, kept or harbored
by each of said persons, together with a complete description of each
of said unlicensed dogs.
The Township Council shall appoint a Dog Issuing
Authority whose duty shall be to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
The Township Council shall also have the power to appoint one or more
persons to be known as "Dog Wardens," who may impound dogs running
at large in violation of the provisions of this chapter.
A.
The Dog Issuing Authority or any of the Dog Wardens
of the Township 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 said dog which said Authority or the Warden or
Wardens have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring said 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 said dog.
B.
If any dog so seized wears a collar or harness having
inscribed thereon or attached thereto the name and address of any
person or registration tag, or the owner or the person keeping or
harboring said dog is known, the Dog Issuing Authority or Wardens
shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the
collar, or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog,
if known, a notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized
and will be liable to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within
seven days after service of the notice.
C.
A notice under this section may be served either by
delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or by leaving
it at person's usual or last known place of abode or at the address
given on the collar, or by the forwarding of it by post in a prepaid
letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of
abode or to the addressed given on the collar.
D.
The owner or person keeping or harboring any dog which
has been taken into custody and impounded in accordance with this
chapter shall pay a detention fee and a daily maintenance fee in amounts
to be set from time to time by resolution of the Township Council.
E.
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven
days after notice, when notice can be given as above set forth, or
has been detained for seven days after seizure, when notice has not
been and cannot be given as above set forth, 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 detention, including maintenance,
and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of seizure and the owner
or person keeping or harboring said dog has not procured a license
and registration tag for said dog, the Dog Issuing Authority may cause
the dog to be destroyed in a manner causing as little pain as possible.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered
to perform any duty under this chapter 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 said owner is present and forbids the same.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
chapter.
A.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog,
or dogs, or allow dogs on premises owned, used or leased by that person
which by loud, frequent or habitual barking, yelping, crying, whining
or howling, shall cause annoyance or disturb the peace and quiet of
any neighborhood or of any person other than the owner thereof.
B.
When the complaint involves more than one dog it shall
not be necessary for the complainant to identify any dog in particular
which is habitually barking, yelping, crying, whining or howling.
C.
The complaint shall be filed by the person witnessing
the alleged offensive conduct or by any other person or by the Dog
Warden in the event that the activity is witnessed by the Dog Warden.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog
shall suffer or permit it to run at large upon the public streets
or in any public park or in any public building or upon any private
property without permission of the owner of the private property.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog
shall suffer or permit it to be upon any public street or in any of
the public places of the Township unless such dog is accompanied by
a person over the age of 12 years and is securely confined and controlled
by an adequate leash not more than six feet long.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog
shall permit, or suffer it to do any injury or to do any damage to
any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, ground or property other than that owned
by the owner of the dog.
A.
Any person who fails to obtain a dog license in compliance
with any of the foregoing provisions shall be subject to a penalty
of not less than $5 per month for each month beginning with February
of each year, and if said person is still in violation after March
1, such person will be subject to a complaint in the Municipal Court,
with the fine to be set at least $25 plus costs, with a maximum fine
of $250. Any person who violates or refuses to comply with any of
the other provisions of this article shall be subject to a fine not
exceeding $500 or imprisonment for 90 days, or both, at the discretion
of the Judge.
B.
Any person who fails to provide a valid rabies vaccination
certificate for a dog which they own for the purposes of this article
upon demand by the Dog Issuing Authority or Dog Warden shall be subject
to a penalty of $25.
A.
No more than a total of three dogs of licensing age
shall be kept, maintained or harbored at one time, for any length
of time, in or upon any premises less than five acres in extent, or
more than a total of five dogs of licensing age in or upon any premises
equal to or greater than five acres in extent. This restriction shall
not apply to properly licensed kennels.
B.
All persons having harbored or controlled more than
the maximum number permitted under this article, on or before the
effective date hereof shall be permitted to keep said dogs, with license,
but these dogs, after death, disposal or other attrition, shall not
be replaced without compliance with all the provisions of this article.
A.
License fees. Any establishment, other than a pet
shop or licensed veterinary hospital, where more than five but no
more than 10 dogs of licensing age are kept, maintained or harbored
at one time, for any length of time shall require an annual license
purchased from the Dog Issuing Authority of the Township for the sum
of $120, entitling him/her to keep or operate such kennel. The Dog
Issuing Authority will not issue a license without acceptable proof
of compliance with all of the requirements herein set forth pursuant
of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.8.
B.
Criteria for proof of compliance:
(1)
The premises where the kennel is to be 1ocated shall
be five acres or greater in extent and shall comply with all applicable
zoning and land use regulations in effect at the time of the application.
(2)
Any kennel to be licensed hereunder shall be so located,
constructed, arranged and/or operated in such manner that it is not
a nuisance as to noise, odors or other actions to the neighborhood
and further in such manner that the dogs maintained therein cannot
come in contact with other dogs not owned or maintained by the owner
of the kennel. Kennel structures shall be located no less than 50
feet from a property line.
(3)
The application shall describe the premises where
the kennel is located or is proposed to be located and the purpose
or purposes for which it is to be maintained, and shall be accompanied
by the written approval of the Board of Health of the Township showing
compliance with the local and state rules and regulations governing
location of and sanitation at such kennels and compliance with this
article.
(4)
The premises where the kennel is located must be the
primary residence of the owner/operator and applicant.
(5)
Individual registrations are required for all dogs
of licensing age harbored, maintained, or kept on the kennel premises.
There shall be no fee for these registrations other than the kennel
license fee. Compliance with all other dog license provisions is required.
(6)
Neither the applicant nor any other person residing
on the kennel premises may have been convicted of any form of animal
cruelty.
C.
Rabies certificates required. A rabies vaccination
certificate for each dog on the kennel premises must be maintained
on the premises, available for inspection by the Dog Issuing Authority
or Dog Warden(s).
D.
Expiration and revocation of license. All kennel licenses
shall expire annually on the last day of January of each year and
shall be subject to revocation by the Township Council on recommendation
of the Dog Issuing Authority or the State Department of Health or
the Board of Health of the Township after the owner has been afforded
a hearing by either the State Department of Health, the Board of Health
of the Township, or the Township Council.
[Added 11-8-1994 by Ord. No. 94-15]
A.
Requirements.
(1)
Household of resident or owner of premises shall be
equal to or greater than five acres and be the primary residence of
the applicant. Located no less than 25 feet from any property lines
and operating in such a manner that it is not a nuisance to surrounding
properties.
(2)
Applicant shall state purpose in writing with description
of facility operations. Written approval of local Dog Issuing Authority
is required.
(3)
Compliance with all provisions set forth in Dog License
Ordinance of Township.
(4)
Annual fee of $120 for entitlement to license which
is due by January 31 of each renewing year. License term is January
1/December 31. Renewal will be subject to revocation by the Township
Council on recommendation of the Dog License Issuing Authority. Owner
may be afforded a hearing by the Township.
(5)
No individual license fees necessary; however, information
on individual dogs shall be kept on premises and shall include all
information that which is requested on the individual license forms,
including rabies shot information. These records will be kept on file
with dog license issuing authority and on premises. Information is
to be kept current on individual dogs.
