[Adopted 9-21-1992 by Board of Health Ord. No. 1-1992]
As used in this Article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any wild or domesticated warm-blooded creature.
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this Article.
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.
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
The act of providing space or making available food or shelter
in such a manner which attracts a cat or cats to one's premises.
The Department of Health or any designated representative
thereof 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 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.
A.
Vaccination and license required; exceptions. No person
shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age
within the Township of East Hanover unless such cat is vaccinated
and licensed. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to cats
held in a cattery or those held by a state or federally licensed research
facility or a veterinary establishment where cats are received or
kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other treatments 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 Animals Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as provided for in Subsection D.
C.
Vaccination certificates. A certificate of vaccination
shall be issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended
by the state.
D.
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.
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, or other official designated by the governing
body thereof by resolution to license cats in the municipality in
which he/she resides, a license and official registration tag with
license number or a registration sleeve for each cat so owned, kept
or harbored and shall place upon such cat a collar or other device
with the license number securely fastened or displayed thereto. Acceptable
methods of displaying the license number shall include, but are not
limited to, breakaway or elastic collars. License tags or sleeves
are not transferable.
The owner of any newly acquired cat of licensing
age or of any cat which attains licensing age shall make application
for a license tag or sleeve 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 of East Hanover for
no longer than 90 days.
A.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought
into the Township of East Hanover any cat licensed in another state
for the current year and bearing a registration tag or sleeve and
shall keep the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township
of East Hanover for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately
apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
B.
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought
into the Township of East Hanover any unlicensed cat and shall keep
the same or permit the same to be kept within the Township of East
Hanover for a period of more than 10 days shall immediately apply
for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
A.
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 and also the name,
street and post office address of the owner and the person who shall
keep or harbor such cat.
B.
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 designated to license cats
in the municipality.
License forms and official tags or sleeves shall
be furnished by the municipality and shall be numbered serially and
shall bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
No Municipal Clerk or other official designated by the governing body of any municipality to license cats therein shall grant any such license and official registration tag or sleeve 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 Human Services or has been certified exempt as provided by § 173-37 of this Article. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
The person applying for the license and registration tag shall pay a fee for the licensing of each cat and an additional sum for the registration tag of each cat, and for each annual renewal the fee for the license and for the registration tag shall be the same as for the original license and tag. Any person who fails to apply for and procure from the Board of Health and/or its designee a license and official registration tag for each cat by January 31 of each calendar year shall be charged a late fee. See Chapter 79, Fees and Licenses, § 79-15.
A.
A license from another municipality shall be accepted.
The person applying for the license and registration tag and/or sleeve
shall pay the fee fixed or authorized. The fee for the renewal of
a license and registration tag or sleeve shall be the same as for
the original, and said license, registration tag or sleeve and renewal
thereof shall expire on January 31 of each year, in the following
year.
B.
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall
be required in the licensing year for any cat in the Township of East
Hanover. Any valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New
Jersey municipality shall be accepted by this municipality as evidence
of compliance.
If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced
or lost, the licensing officer may issue a duplicate license and/or
registration sleeve for that particular cat at no fee.
Proof of licensing shall be produced by any
person owning, keeping, maintaining or harboring a cat upon the request
of any health official, police officer, animal control officer or
other authorized person.
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
Article.
License fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this Article shall be forwarded to the Treasurer
of the municipality 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: for collecting, keeping and disposing
of cats liable to seizure: for local prevention and control of rabies;
for providing anti-rabies 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. Any
unexpected balance remaining in such special account shall be retained
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 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 municipality 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 next preceding.
Except as otherwise provided in this Article,
any person who violates or who fails or refuses to comply with this
Article shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $25 nor more
than $500 for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name of
the East Hanover Board of Health or by and in the name of the Township
of East Hanover.