[Adopted 7-8-1976 as Chapter V of the Revised General Ordinances
of 1975]
A. Definitions. As used in this article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
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.
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.
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 chapter or otherwise.
SHELTER
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed
without charge.
B. Word usage. "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.
No person shall keep or harbor any dog within
the Borough without first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued
by the Board of Health upon application by the owner and payment of
the prescribed fee, and no person shall keep or harbor any dog in
the Borough except in compliance with the provisions of this article.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog
of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the Board
of Health a license and official metal registration tag for each such
dog so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon each such dog
a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 10-8-1981 by Ord. No. 941; 8-11-1983 by Ord. No.
985; 6-23-1986; 12-27-1988 by Ord. No. 1081; 4-21-1998 by Ord. No. 1298; 11-12-2002 by Ord. No. 1408]
A. Eight dollars per year for any sterilized dog over
the age of six months, which proof of sterilization must be presented
at the time of application;
B. Eleven dollars per year for any nonsterilized dog
over the age of six months; or
C. In addition, three-year licenses shall be available
at a cost of $22 covering a three-year period for any sterilized dog
over the age of six months, which proof of sterilization must be presented
at time of application, and three-year licenses shall be available
at a cost of $32 for any nonsterilized dog over the age of six months;
and
D. Except for the three-year licenses, which shall be
renewed every three years, each license shall be renewed annually.
Proof of rabies immunization must be presented at the time of license
or renewal application. Said licenses and renewals thereof shall expire
on the 30th day of June in the year the license must be renewed. There
shall be added to any license fee paid after July 31st a late charge
of $10.
[Amended 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly
known as "Seeing Eye" dogs and service dogs and 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.
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 application shall state the breed, sex,
age, color and markings of the dog for which the license and registration
are sought and whether it is of a long- or short-haired variety and
also the name, street and post office address of the owner and the
person who shall keep or harbor such dog. The information on the application
and the registration number issued for the dog shall be preserved
for a period of three years by the Board of Health. In addition, such
Board shall forward similar information to the State Department of
Health each month on forms furnished by the Department. Registration
numbers shall be issued in the order of the applications.
A. Licensed. Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the Borough any dog licensed in another state for the current year and bearing a registration tag and 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 such dog, unless such dog is licensed under §
125-10.
B. Unlicensed. Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into the 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 dog, unless the dog is licensed under §
125-10.
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.
Any person owning or harboring more than three
dogs of licensing age shall be deemed to be maintaining a kennel,
and any person who keeps or operates or proposes to establish a kennel,
a pet shop, a shelter or a pound shall apply to the Board of Health
for a license entitling him to keep or operate such establishment.
The application for a license for a kennel,
pet shop, shelter or pound shall describe the premises where the establishment
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 Health Officer of the Board of Health of the Borough,
showing compliance with the local and state rules and regulations
governing location of and sanitation at such establishments.
A. 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 in each
year and be subject to revocation by the Mayor and Council of the
Borough on recommendation of the State Department of Health or the
Board of Health of the Borough for failure to comply with the rules
and regulations of the State Department of Health or the Board of
Health of the Borough governing the same after the owner has been
afforded a hearing by either the State Department of Health or the
Board of Health of the Borough.
[Amended 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
B. Any person holding such license shall not be required
to secure individual licenses for dogs owned by such licensee and
kept at such establishments.
C. Such licenses shall not be transferable to another
owner or different premises.
The annual license fee for kennel providing
accommodations for 10 or fewer dogs shall be $10 and, for more than
10 dogs, $25. The annual license fee for a pet shop shall be $10.
No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound.
No dog kept in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or
pound shall be permitted off such premises, except on leash or in
a crate or other safe control.
[Amended 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
A. License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this chapter, except registration tag fees,
shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Borough 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, which shall
be used for the following purposes only:
(1) For collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs liable
to seizure under this chapter.
(2) For local prevention and control of rabies.
(3) 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.
(4) For all other purposes prescribed by the statutes
of New Jersey governing the subject.
(5) For administering the provisions of this chapter.
B. Any unexpended balance remaining in such 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 any such special
account to the general funds of the Borough 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 preceding.
C. The registration tag fee for each dog shall be forwarded
within 30 days after collection by the Board of Health of the State
Department of Health.
The Board of Health 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 Dog Warden of the Borough shall annually
after February 1 cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned, kept
or harbored within the limits of the Borough and shall report to the
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 the persons, together with the
registration numbers of each of the dogs, and the number of unlicensed
dogs owned, kept or harbored by each person, together with a complete
description of each of the unlicensed dogs.
The Mayor, with the consent of the Council,
shall appoint one or more Dog Wardens, who shall hold office until
January 31 in the year next succeeding the year of such appointment
unless sooner removed after a 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 chapter, to impound unlicensed dogs
running at large in violation of the provisions of this chapter and
to report such violations to the Borough Police Department.
A. Reasons for impoundment. The Dog Warden 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,
dogs under the following circumstances:
(1) Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring the dog which the 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 the 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.
(4) Any dog or other animal which is suspected to be rabid.
[Added 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
(5) Any dog or other animal off the premises of the owner
reported to or observed by the Dog Warden to be ill, injured or creating
a threat to the public health, safety or welfare or otherwise interfering
with the enjoyment of property.
[Added 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
B. Notice of impoundment. 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 the dog is known, the Dog Warden
shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given on the
collar or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring the 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 the service of the notice.
C. Service of notice. 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 dog's 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 to the address given on the collar.
D. Unredeemed dogs. 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 the dog and
paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including maintenance,
and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner
or person keeping or harboring the dog has not produced a license
and registration tag for the dog, the Dog Warden may cause the dog
to be destroyed in manner causing as little pain as possible.
[Amended 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
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 which he may lawfully
seize and impound when such officer is in immediate pursuit of such
dog, except upon the premises of the owner of the dog if the 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.
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any
dog which habitually barks or cries.
[Amended 7-28-2015 by Ord. No. 1647]
A. Any dog off the property of the owner or person in charge of custody
and not securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not
more than 10 feet long and by a person competent to properly manage
and control the actions of the dog.
B. Violation: $250 per violation.
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, by leash, of its owner or some other person,
such designation to be 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 park, 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 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.
[Amended 8-15-1995 by Ord. No. 1226]
Any person who violates or refuses to comply
with any part of this chapter 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 of not less than $5 nor more than $50 for each offense.