[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:
AT LARGE
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.
DOG
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
DOG OF LICENSING AGE
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
HOBBY LICENSE
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.
KENNEL
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.
LEASH
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.
OWNER
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.
A. 
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.
B. 
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.
PET SHOP
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part of a kennel, wherein dogs for sale are kept or displayed.
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of dogs seized either under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
PREMISES
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.
SHELTER
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]
B. 
(Reserved)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B, pertaining to dogs that were not spayed or neutered, was repealed 6-17-2014 by Ord. No. 14-06.
C. 
Dogs commonly known as "Seeing Eye Dogs, Guide Dogs or Service Dogs" shall be registered and licensed without fee.[2]
[2]
Note: "Seeing Eye Dog, Guide Dog or Service Dog" as defined by N.J.S.A. 10:5-5.
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.
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.
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.
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 153, General Penalty.
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.
B. 
Limitation.
(1) 
License covers facilities of more than five dogs but fewer than 10 dogs during the license term.
(2) 
Neither applicant nor persons residing on premises may have been convicted of any form of animal cruelty.