[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Borough of Oradell 10-15-1986 by Ord. No. 1-86. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Board of Health — See Ch. 34.
Dogs and other animals — See Ch. 300.
Fees — See Ch. 115.
The following words and terms shall have the meanings herein indicated for the purpose of this chapter:
CAT
Any tomcat, queen or spayed queen.
CAT OF LICENSING AGE
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
KEEPER
Any person exercising control over a cat or permitting a cat to remain on premises under his control.
OWNER
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, includes every person having a right of property in such cat and every person who has such a cat in his keeping.
POUND
An establishment for the confinement of cats seized either under the provisions of this chapter or otherwise.
Licenses shall be required for the following cats of licensing age:
A. 
A cat owned or kept within the Borough by a Borough resident on January 1 of a calendar year.
B. 
A cat acquired during the course of a calendar year and kept within the Borough for more than 10 days after acquisition.
C. 
A cat attaining licensing age during the course of the calendar year.
D. 
An unlicensed cat brought into and kept within the Borough for more than 10 days.
E. 
A cat licensed by another state brought into and kept within the Borough for more than 90 days.
A. 
Each application for a license under this chapter shall give the following information:
(1) 
A general description of the cat sought to be licensed, including breed, sex, age, color and markings, and whether the cat is of a long- or short-haired variety.
(2) 
The name, street and post office address of the owner and of the person who shall keep or harbor the cat.
B. 
Registration numbers shall be issued in the order in which applications are received.
C. 
No Municipal Clerk or other official designated by the governing body or Board of Health of any municipality to license cats therein shall grant any such license and official metal registration tag for any cat, unless the owner thereof provides evidence that the cat to be licensed and registered has been inoculated with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by and administered in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare or has been certified exempt as provided by regulations of the State Department of Health.
Applications for licenses for cats which are required to be licensed by the provisions of § 300-2A shall be made before February 1 of each calendar year. In all other cases, the application for a license shall be made within 10 days of the day upon which the car in question first becomes subject to the provisions of this section.
The information on all applications under this chapter and the registration number issued to each licensed cat shall be preserved for a period of three years by the Board of Health. In addition, similar information shall be forwarded to the State Department of Health each month on forms furnished by the Department, if so required.
[Amended 12-20-2010 by Ord. No. 10-1; 9-24-2024 by Ord. No. 24-16]
The person applying for a license shall pay a fee of $10 for each spayed or neutered cat and $15 for each cat that is not spayed or not neutered. The same fees shall be charged for the annual renewal of each license and registration tag. In the event that any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall fail to obtain an original or renewal cat license or licenses on or before January 31, said person shall be liable for a late fee of $5.00 per month.
Each cat license and registration tag shall expire on January 31 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which it was issued.
Any person appointed for the purpose by the governing body or Board of Health of the municipality shall annually cause a canvass to be made of all cats owned, kept or harbored within the limits of the municipality and shall report, on or before September 1 of each year, to the Clerk or other person designated to license cats in the municipality and to the local Board of Health and to the State Department of Health, if so required, the results thereof, setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses of persons owning, keeping or harboring unlicensed cats and the number of unlicensed cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with a complete description of each of said unlicensed cats.
License fees and other moneys collected or received under the provisions of this chapter, except registration tag fees, shall be forwarded to the Borough Treasurer within 30 days after collection or receipt and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the other accounts of the Borough. The moneys shall be used for the following purposes only: collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure under this chapter; local prevention and control of rabies; antirabies treatment under the direction of the local Board of Health for any person known to have been or suspected of having been exposed to rabies; and the administration of the provisions of this chapter. Any unexpended balance remaining in the special account shall be retained therein until the end of the third fiscal year following and may be used for any of the purposes set forth in this section. At the end of the third fiscal year following, and at the end of each fiscal year thereafter, there shall be transferred from the special account to the general funds of the Borough any amount then in the account which is in excess of the total amount paid in during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
The Animal Warden shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded any of the following cats:
A. 
An unlicensed cat running at large in violation of the provisions of this chapter.
B. 
A cat of the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the cat, which the Animal Warden or his agent has reason to believe is a stray cat.
C. 
A cat off the premises of the owner or of the person keeping or harboring the cat without a current registration tag on its collar.
D. 
A female cat in season off the premises of the owner or of the persons keeping or harboring the cat.
An 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 a cat which he may lawfully seize and impound when he is in immediate pursuit of the cat, except upon the premises of the owner of the cat if the owner is present and forbids it.
A. 
If a cat so impounded or seized wears a registration tag, collar or harness inscribed with the name and address of any person of if the owner or the person keeping or harboring the cat is known, the Animal Warden shall immediately serve on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the person owning, keeping or harboring the cat a notice, in writing, stating that the cat has been seized and will be liable to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within seven days after service of the notice.
B. 
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 mail, in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode or to the address given on the collar.
The Animal Warden is authorized and empowered to cause the destruction of any unclaimed cat in as humane a manner as possible under any of the following contingencies:
A. 
When any cat so seized has not been claimed by the person owning, keeping or harboring it within seven days after notice or within seven days of the cat's detention when notice has not been or cannot be given, as set forth in the previous section.
B. 
If the person owning, keeping or harboring a cat so seized has not claimed the cat and has not paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance.
C. 
If the seized cat is unlicensed at the time of its seizure and the person owning, keeping or harboring it has not produced a license and registration tag as provided in this chapter.
D. 
No cat or other animal so caught and detained or procured, obtained, sent or brought to a pound or shelter shall be sold or otherwise made available for the purpose of experimentation. Any person who sells or otherwise makes available any such cat or other animal for the purpose of experimentation shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense.
No person shall own, keep or harbor a cat in the Borough except in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and the following regulations:
A. 
Wearing of registration. Cats for which licenses are required by the provisions of this chapter shall wear collars or harnesses with the registration tags securely fastened thereto.
B. 
Use of registration tags. No person, except an officer in the performance of his duties, shall remove a registration tag from the collar of a cat without the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration tag to a cat for which the tag was not issued.
C. 
Interference with official duties. No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this chapter.
Where it has been determined by a physician that a person has been bitten by a cat, that person, or his parent or guardian if he is a minor, shall immediately notify the police. When the owner or keeper of a cat is notified by the police that the cat has bitten an individual, the owner or keeper of the cat shall comply with the following procedures:
A. 
Have the cat examined by a licensed veterinarian within 12 hours.
B. 
Have the cat kept in quarantine in the owner's home or at a kennel for a period of 10 days.
C. 
At the end of 10 days, have the cat reexamined by a veterinarian and a written report of the cat's state of health sent to the Board of Health.
The Borough Council or Board of Health may, by proclamation, require all cats to be quarantined during any period in each year that may seem advisable to the Council or Board of Health.
The Borough Council or Board of Health shall have the power to appoint an Animal Warden who shall be in charge of the pound and whose duty it shall be to enforce the provisions of this chapter. The Borough Council shall have the power to appoint one or more cat catchers, who may impound unlicensed cats running at large in violation of the provisions of this chapter and who shall make a monthly report to the Borough Council.
Any person who violates or refuses to comply with the regulations of this chapter shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than $50 for each offense, to be recovered by the Borough of Oradell.