[Adopted 3-19-1996 by Ord. No. 96-7]
As used in this article, unless the context
otherwise indicates, the following words and terms shall have the
meanings given herein:
A person 18 years of age or older who has satisfactorily
completed a course of study approved by the Commissioner of Health
on the control of animals, prescribed by the applicable New Jersey
Statute or who has been employed in the State of New Jersey in the
capacity of and with similar responsibilities to those required of
certified Animal Control Officers for a period of three years.
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or breading dogs for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, shall include
every person having a right of property in such dog and every person
who has such dog in his keeping.
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.
Any establishment where dogs are received, housed and distributed.
Includes any dog which has been declared by judicial authority
to be a vicious dog, or which has attacked any human being, or which
habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog
of licensing age shall in the month of January and annually thereafter
apply for and procure from the Borough Clerk of the Borough of East
Rutherford 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.
A.
A license and official metal registration tag shall
not be issued by the Borough Clerk for any dog unless the owner thereof
provides evidence that the dog 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 as exempt, as provided by regulations
of the State Department of Health. Such vaccination shall be repeated
at intervals as provided by regulations of the State Department of
Health and shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or
by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
B.
This evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine shall
be submitted to the Clerk with the completed application and required
fees.
The application for each dog license shall set
forth the following information:
A.
Breed, sex, age, color and markings of the dog to
be licensed and whether it is of a long- or short-haired variety.
B.
The name and address of the applicant.
C.
The date of the last rabies vaccine inoculation of
the dog to be licensed.
D.
The name and address of the veterinarian who administered
the inoculation.
A.
The annual fee for each dog license and each renewal
thereof issued by the Clerk of this Borough pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1
et seq., as said statutes have heretofore been or may heretofore be
amended or supplemented, shall be the sum of $10.45. Said fee of $10.45
shall be collected by the Borough Clerk at the same time he or she
collects the annual registration tag fee of $1 prescribed by statute.
If the owner presents a certificate signed by a licensed veterinarian
stating that the dog has been spayed or neutered at the time of application
or renewal of the license, the fee shall be reduced to $7.45, which
shall be collected at the same time the Borough Clerk collects the
annual registration tag fee of $1 prescribed by statute.
B.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly
known as "Seeing Eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons
and commonly known as "service dogs" or dogs used to assist deaf persons
and commonly known as "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 therefor.
A.
A numbered official metal registration tag shall be
supplied with the certificate for each dog license, which registration
tag shall be at all times securely fastened to the collar of the dog
licensed. Such registration tag is not transferable and shall be used
only for the dog described in the application for such license.
B.
No person, except an officer in the performance of
his duties, shall remove an official metal registration tag from the
collar of any dog without the consent of the owner, nor shall any
person attach an official metal registration tag to a dog for which
it was not issued.
The owner of any newly acquired dog of licensing
age or another dog that attains licensing age shall make application
for license and registration tag for such dog within 10 days after
such acquisition or age attainment and pay therefor the fee hereinabove
provided.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person owning, keeping,
harboring or having the custody or possession of any dog, whether
registered or not, to permit any dog off the premises of the owner
or of the person keeping or harboring said dog unless said dog shall
be led by a chain, cord, thong or other leash in the hands of a person
capable of leading and controlling such dog or unless such dog shall
be securely confined in an automobile or other vehicle.
B.
Any such dog which shall be found in or upon any public
street, avenue, road or highway or any other public or private place
other than the premises of the owner or which shall run at large in
the Borough of East Rutherford in violation of this section may be
taken into custody and impounded and thereafter redeemed or destroyed
in accordance with the procedure set forth in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16.
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of East Rutherford shall appoint a certified Animal Control Officer who shall be responsible for animal control within the jurisdiction of the Borough of East Rutherford and who shall enforce and abide by the provisions of § 100-7 in accordance with the procedures set forth in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16.
A.
An Animal Control Officer shall seize and impound
a dog when the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the dog:
(1)
Attacked a person and caused a death or serious bodily
injury, as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1b, to that person;
(2)
Caused bodily injury, as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1a,
to a person during an unprovoked attack and causes a serious threat
of harm to persons or domestic animals;
(3)
Engaged in dog-fighting activities, as described by
the applicable New Jersey statutes; or
(4)
Has been trained, tormented, badgered, baited or encouraged
to engage in unprovoked attacks upon persons or domestic animals.
B.
The dog shall be impounded until the final disposition
as to whether the dog is vicious or potentially dangerous. Subject
to the approval of the Borough Health Officer, the dog shall be impounded
in a facility or other structure agreeable to the owner. The Animal
Control Officer shall follow the procedure set forth in N.J.S.A. 4:19-20
and as time to time amended.
C.
The Municipal Court Judge of the Borough of East Rutherford
shall determine whether or not a dog shall be declared vicious if
he or she finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the dog:
(1)
Killed a person or caused serious bodily injury, as
defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1b, to a person; or
(2)
Has engaged in dog-fighting activities, as described
in the applicable New Jersey Statute.
(a)
A dog may not be declared vicious for inflicting
death or serious bodily injury, as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1b, upon
a person if that person was committed or attempting to commit a crime
or if that person was tormenting or inflicting pain upon the dog in
such an extreme manner than an attack of such nature could be considered
provoked. If the Municipal Court Judge declares a dog to be vicious
and no appeal is made of this ruling pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:19-25,
the dog shall be destroyed in a humane and expeditious manner, except
that no dog may be destroyed during the pendency of an appeal.
(b)
The Municipal Court Judge may declare a dog
to be potentially dangerous if he finds that dog:
[1]
Caused bodily injury, as defined in N.J.S.A.
2C:11-1a, to a person during an unprovoked attack and posses a serious
threat of bodily injury or death to a person; or
[3]
Has been trained, tormented, badgered, baited
or encouraged to engage in unprovoked attacks upon persons or domestic
animals.
D.
A dog shall not be declared potentially dangerous
for:
(1)
Causing bodily injury, as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1a,
to a person if that person was committing or attempting to commit
a crime or if that person was tormenting or inflicting pain upon the
dog in such an extreme manner that an attack of such nature could
be considered provoked; or
(2)
Killing a domestic animal if the domestic animal was
the aggressor.
A.
If a dog is declared vicious or potentially dangerous
and all appeals pertaining thereto have been exhausted, the owner
of the dog shall be liable to the Borough of East Rutherford for the
cost and expense of impounding and destroying the dog. The owner shall
incur the expense of impounding the dog, regardless of whether the
dog is ultimately found to be vicious or potentially dangerous.
B.
The owner of a potentially dangerous dog shall comply
with all provisions of this article and of N.J.S.A. 4:19-28 pertaining
to the duties of the owner of a potentially dangerous dog.
The governing body shall appoint a person or
persons annually to cause a canvass to be made of all dogs owned,
kept and harbored within the limits of the Borough of East Rutherford,
and said person or persons shall report on or before September 1 of
each year to the Borough Clerk and to the East Rutherford 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 unlicensed 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.
[Amended 9-20-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-16]
A.
Any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of this article, except § 100-7A, and the applicable New Jersey Statute, N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1 et seq., or the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Health shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $5 or $50 for each offense.
B.
Any person who violates § 100-7A shall be liable for imprisonment in the county jail or in any place provided by the municipality for the detention of prisoners for any term not exceeding 90 days; or by a fine not exceeding $2,000; or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days for each offense.
C.
The owner
of a potentially dangerous dog who is found by a preponderance of
the evidence to have violated this article or to have failed to comply
with a Municipal Court order shall be subject to a fine of not more
than $1,000 per day of the violation, and each day's continuance of
the violation shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
The Municipal Court shall have jurisdiction to enforce this section.
An Animal Control Officer is authorized to seize and impound any potentially
dangerous dog whose owner fails to comply with the provisions of this
article or a Municipal Court order. The Municipal Court may order
that the dog so seized and impounded be destroyed in an expeditious
and humane manner.
