[Adopted 8-9-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-11]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A cat.
Any member of the domestic feline species; male, female or
altered.
Any cat which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
The Clerk of the Township of Mansfield is charged with administering
the issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions
of this article.
Rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified
by a licensed veterinarian.
When applied to the proprietorship of a cat, includes every
person having a right of property (or custody) in such cat and every
person who has such a cat in his/her keeping or who harbors or maintains
a cat or knowingly permits a cat to remain on or about any premises
occupied by that person.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
The Animal Control Officer of the Township of Mansfield shall
be the "Poundkeeper."
The Township of Mansfield in the County of Warren, State
of New Jersey.
A.
Vaccination and license requirements. No person shall
own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within
the Township of Mansfield unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed.
The provisions of this section do not apply to cats held by a state
or federal licensed research facility or a veterinary establishment
where cats are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical
or other treatment or licensed animal shelters, pounds, kennels or
pet shops.
B.
Vaccination. All cats shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the latest Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization, published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as provided for in Subsection C.
C.
Exemptions. Any cat may be exempted from the requirements
of such vaccination for a specified period of time by the local Board
of Health, upon presentation of a veterinarian's certificate stating
that because of an infirmity or other physical condition, or regimen
of therapy, the inoculation of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
A.
Cats should have license number displayed. Any person
who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of licensing age shall annually
apply for and procure from the Clerk of the municipality a license
and official registration tag with license number for each cat so
owned, kept or harbored, and should place upon such cat a collar or
other device, with the license number securely fastened or displayed
thereto. License tags or sleeves are not transferable.
B.
Time for applying for license.
(1)
The owner of a newly acquired cat of licensing age
or of any cat which attains licensing age shall make application for
a license tag for such cat within 10 days after such acquisition or
age attainment. This requirement will not apply to a nonresident keeping
a cat within the Township for no longer than 90 days.
(2)
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought
into the Township any unlicensed cat and shall keep the same or permit
the same to be kept within the Township for a period of more than
90 days shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag
for each such cat.
(3)
None of the provisions of this subsection shall be
applicable to cats owned by nonresidents passing through the Township
nor to cats brought to the Township and entered for exhibition at
any cat show.
C.
Applications, contents and preservation of information.
The application shall state the breed, sex, age, color and markings
of the cat for which license and registration are sought and whether
it is of a long or shorthaired variety; also, the name, street and
post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep or
harbor such cat. The information on said application and the registration
number issued for the cat shall be preserved for a period of three
years by the Clerk or other local official which may be designated
to license cats in the municipality.
D.
License forms and tags. License forms and official
tags shall be furnished by the municipality, shall be numbered serially
and shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
E.
No Municipal Clerk shall license a cat as neutered
unless a certificate from a licensed veterinarian is provided as evidence
of the cat being neutered or the owner files an affidavit attesting
to the fact that the cat has been neutered.
F.
License fee schedule. A license shall be issued after
payment of a fee of $6 for a cat not spayed or neutered and $10 for
a spayed or neutered cat. There shall be no fee for the licensing
of a cat owned by a property owner whose premises housing the cat
or cats is assessed as farmland by the Mansfield Township Tax Assessor.
Persons who fail to obtain a license as required within the time period
specified in this section will be subject to a delinquent fee of for
each month the cat is unlicensed after January 31 of any year. Senior
citizens 65 years of age or older shall be entitled to a discount
of $1 on each of the above fees.
[Amended 3-10-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-02; 12-26-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-16; 12-9-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-17]
G.
Fees, renewals, expiration date of license.
(1)
A license from another municipality shall be accepted.
The person applying for the license and registration shall pay the
fee fixed or authorized. Said license, registration tag and renewal
thereof shall expire on January 31 in the following year.
(2)
One license and registration tag or sleeve shall be
required in the licensing year for any cat harbored in the Township.
Any valid New Jersey license tag issued by a New Jersey municipality
shall be accepted by this municipality as evidence of compliance.
H.
Loss of license. If a license tag or sleeve has been
misplaced or lost, the Township Clerk may issue a duplicate license
for that particular cat at a fee of $1.
I.
Proof of licensing. Proof of licensing shall be produced
by any person owning, keeping, retaining or harboring a cat, upon
the request of any health official, police officer, animal control
officer or other authorized person.
J.
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other
moneys collected or received under the provisions of this article
shall be forwarded to the Chief Financial Officer of the Township
and shall be placed in a special account separate from any of the
other accounts of the municipality and shall be used for the following
purposes only:
(1)
Collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to
seizure for local prevention and control of rabies.
(2)
Providing antirabies treatment under the direction
of the local Board of Health for any person known or suspected to
have been exposed to rabies and for administering the provisions of
this article.
(3)
For any unexpected balance remaining until the end
of the 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 municipality any amount then in such account
which is the excess of the total amount paid into the special account
during the last two fiscal years next preceding.
K.
Unauthorized removal or attachment of registration
tags. No person, except an officer in the performance of his duties,
shall remove a registration tag from the collar of any cat without
the consent of the owner, nor shall any person attach a registration
tag to a cat for which it was not issued.
The Poundkeeper of the Township of Mansfield
shall biennially cause a canvass to be made of all cats owned, kept
or harbored within the limits of the Township and shall report the
results thereof to the Clerk of the Township and the Board of Health
of the Township, setting forth in separate columns the names and addresses
of persons owning, keeping or harboring such cats, the number of licensed
cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with
the registration number of each of said cats, and the number of unlicensed
cats owned, kept or harbored by each of said persons, together with
a complete description of each said unlicensed cat.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
as limiting the authority of the Health Officer or Chief of Police
or members of the Police Department to enforce the provisions of this
article when, in the interest of health and safety, they deem it necessary.
A.
The Poundkeeper of the Township shall take into custody
and impound, or cause to be taken into custody and impounded, and
thereafter destroy or dispose of as provided in this section:
(1)
Any licensed cat which said official or his agent
or agents have reason to believe is abandoned or stray;
(2)
Any cat which is suspected to be rabid; or
(3)
Any cat observed by or reported to a certified Animal
Control Officer to be ill, injured or creating a threat to public
health, safety or welfare.
(4)
After observation, any cat seized under this section
suspected of being rabid shall be immediately reported to the local
Board of Health and to the State Department of Health.
B.
If any cat 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 cat is known, the Poundkeeper shall forthwith serve
on the person whose address is given on the collar or on the owner
or the person keeping or harboring said cat, if known, 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
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 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.
D.
Whenever a cat 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 cat has not claimed said cat and paid all
expenses incurred by reason of detention, including maintenance and
any costs associated with the apprehension of the animal, and if the
cat is unlicensed at the time of the seizure and the owner or person
keeping or harboring said cat has not produced a license and registration
tag for said cat, the Poundkeeper may cause the cat to be destroyed
or adopted in a manner consistent with state laws and regulations.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
Any person or agent authorized to or empowered
to perform any duty under this article is hereby authorized to go
upon any premises to seize for impounding any cat(s) which he may
lawfully seize and impound when he is in immediate pursuit of such
cat(s), except upon premises of the owner of the dog or cat if said
owner is present and forbids the same.
A.
No person shall be cruel or inhumane to a cat, said
cruelty and inhumanity consisting of beating, torturing, mutilating,
cruelly killing or clearly failing to provide food, drink or shelter
for a cat or abandoning any cat of which he has charge, either as
owner or otherwise.
B.
No person owning, keeping or harboring or having the
care, custody or control of any cat shall abandon such a maimed, sick,
infirm or disabled animal.
[Amended 7-24-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-11]
A.
Violations of chapter; penalty. Except as otherwise
provided in this article, and person who violates or who fails or
refuses to comply with this article shall be liable to a penalty of
$15 for a first violation; $25 for a second violation and $50 for
each subsequent offense.
B.
Violators pleading guilty may pay the appropriate
fine by mail to the Township Municipal Court of the Township of Mansfield.
All other violations not involving a guilty plea shall be heard in
the name of the Township of Mansfield in the Mansfield Township Municipal
Court.
