[Adopted 10-14-1941 by Ord. No. 459 (§§ 95-7 to 95-27 of the 1982 Code)]
A. 
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BOROUGH
Borough of Leonia in the County of Bergen.
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.
KENNEL
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a pet shop, or a place where more than three dogs of licensing age shall be kept or harbored.
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.
PERSON
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association of persons.
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.
SHELTER
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed without charge.
B. 
Word usage.
(1) 
The words "and" and "or" may be used interchangeably, and either of the two may be applicable, whichever is more conducive towards the effectuating of this article.
(2) 
Personal pronouns shall mean either the singular or the plural, whichever is applicable and conducive towards the effectuating of this article.
(3) 
The masculine, feminine or the neuter gender shall be implied, whichever is appropriate and conducive for the effectuating of this article.
No person shall keep or harbor any dog within the Borough without first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued by the Police Department upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed fee, and no person shall keep or harbor any dog in said Borough except in compliance with the provisions of this article.
[Amended 4-21-2003 by Ord. No. 04-03; 12-20-2004 by Ord. No. 27-04]
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of licensing age shall, in the month of January 1947 and annually thereafter, apply for and procure from the Police Department a license and official metal registration tag for each dog owned, kept or harbored and shall place on each such dog a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto. No single-family household shall harbor at any one time within the Borough of Leonia more than three dogs of licensing age.
A. 
The annual fee to be paid by the owner or harborer of any dog for its license and registration tag shall be as set forth in Chapter 123, Fees. For each annual renewal the fee for the license and registration tag shall be the same as for the original license and tag.
B. 
The three-year fee to be paid by the owner or harborer of any dog for its license and registration tag shall be as set forth in Chapter 123, Fees. Licenses, registration tags and renewals shall expire on the last day of January in each year or three-year period.
C. 
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly known as "Seeing Eye" 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.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing age or of any dog which attains licensing age shall make application for license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days of acquisition or age attainment.
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, also, the name, street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or harbor such dog. The information on said application and the registration number issued for the dog shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Chief of Police. In addition, he shall forward similar information to the State Department of Health each month, on forms furnished by said Department. Registration numbers shall be issued in the order of the applications.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into this Borough any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag and who shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Borough for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each dog unless the dog is licensed under § 88-10 of this article.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into this Borough any unlicensed dog and shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Borough for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such dog unless such dog is licensed under § 88-10 of this article.
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.
A. 
The license fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Borough within 48 hours after collection or receipt and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the Borough, and which shall be used for the following purposes only: for collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable to seizure under this article, for local prevention and control of rabies, for providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction of the Leonia Board of Health for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies, for all other purposes prescribed by the 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 third fiscal year following and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section. At the end of the said 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 Borough of Leonia, any amount then in such account which is in excess of the total amount paid into said special account during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
B. 
The registration tag fee for each dog shall be forwarded within 30 days after collection by the Borough Treasurer to the State Department of Health.
The Chief of Police shall forward to the State Department of Health a list of all kennels, pet shops, shelters 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.
The Chief of Police shall promptly after February 1, 1942, and annually thereafter cause the Police Department to make a canvass of all dogs owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the Borough and shall report to the Mayor and Council and to the Leonia Board of Health and to the State Department of Health the result 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 the complete description of each of said unlicensed dogs.
A. 
The Chief of Police shall take into custody and impound or shall cause the Police Department to take into custody and impound and, thereafter, destroy or dispose 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 official or his agent or agents 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 a registration tag, or the owner or the person keeping or harboring said dog is known, the Chief of Police or any person authorized by him in his behalf 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 or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after the 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 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 the address given on the collar.
D. 
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven days after notice when notice can be given as set forth above 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 said dog has not claimed said dog and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance of $0.50 per day, plus a redemption fee as set forth in Chapter 123, Fees. (This latter fee shall be payable to the Borough of Leonia.) 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 aforesaid Chief of Police or any person authorized by him in that behalf shall cause the dog to be destroyed in manner causing as little pain as possible.
The Mayor, with the consent of the Council, may appoint a Dog Warden, who shall hold office until the last day of January in the year next succeeding the year in which he is appointed, unless sooner removed after hearing upon charges by the vote of a majority of the whole Council. It shall be the duty of the Dog Warden to enforce the provisions of this article, to file complaints with the Magistrate against any person who violates or refuses to comply with the provisions of this article, make a report forthwith of his acts to the Chief of Police and, under the direction of the Chief of Police, perform any of the duties imposed upon said Chief of Police and/or the Police Department by virtue of this article being kept in full force and effect. Nothing herein contained shall relieve the Chief of Police or the Police Department from the responsibilities imposed upon them by this article.
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article 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 article.
[Amended 12-27-1999by Ord. No. 21-99]
A. 
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries.
B. 
No person shall, at any time, fasten, chain or tie any dog, or cause any dog to be fastened, chained, or tied to any stationary object for more than two hours in a twenty-four-hour period, while such dog is on the dog's caregiver's property, on the property of the dog's caregiver's landlord, or on the property of the person having temporary or permanent custody of the dog. Pulley runs are acceptable for no more than four hours in a twenty-four-hour period.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall suffer or permit it to run at large or be upon the public streets or in any public park or in any public building or in any other public place within the Borough, unless such dog is in the control, by leash, of its owner or some other person or unless such dog is securely muzzled with a wire or leather muzzle securely fastened over its jaws in such a manner that it cannot bite.
The Mayor and Council may designate periods during which dogs shall not be permitted to be upon the public streets or in any public park, or in any public building or in any other public place within the Borough even though such dog wears a muzzle securely fastened over its jaws in such a manner that it cannot bite, unless such dog is in the control of its owner or some other person, such designation to be made by publication at least three times in a newspaper in which legal notices of the Borough may be published, and, after such publication, no person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit it to be upon the public streets or in any public building or in any other public place within the Borough even though such dog wears a muzzle securely fastened over its jaws in such a manner that it cannot bite, unless such a dog is in the control, by leash, of its owner or some other person.
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, grounds or property.
A. 
Any person who violates or refuses to comply with any part of any of the following sections, namely, §§ 88-8, 88-9, 88-11, 88-13, 88-14, 88-15 or 88-22 of this article or with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Health governing the sanitary conduct and operation of kennels, pet shops, shelters and pounds to preserve sanitation therein and prevent the spread of rabies and other diseases of dogs within and from such establishments shall be liable to a penalty as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty, for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name of the Borough or by and in the name of the State Department of Health, as the case may be. A person who refuses or neglects to pay forthwith the amount of a judgment rendered against him and the cost and charges incident thereto shall be committed by the court to the county jail for a period not exceeding 10 days in the case of a first conviction and, in the case of a conviction for a second, subsequent or continuing violation, for a period not exceeding 30 days.
B. 
That any person who violates or refuses to comply with any part of any of the following sections, namely, §§ 88-23, 88-24, 88-25 or 88-26 of this article shall be liable to a penalty as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty, for each offense to be recovered by and in the name of the Borough. A person who refuses or neglects to pay forthwith the amount of a judgment rendered against him and the costs and charges incident thereto shall be committed by the court to the county jail for a period not exceeding 10 days in the case of a first conviction and, in the case of a second, subsequent or continuing violation, for a period not exceeding 30 days.