[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Margate
City 5-23-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-12. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
For the purpose of this chapter, a dog or cat.
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State of New
Jersey to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
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 agency or department of Margate City or any designated representative
thereof charged with administering the issuance and/or revocation of permits
and licenses under the provisions of this chapter.
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 requirements. No person shall
own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven months of age within Margate
unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions of this section
do not apply to cats held in a cattery or those 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 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 Animal 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 certificate. 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.
A.
Cats must 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 City of Margate City, or other official
designated by the governing body thereof to license cats in the City of Margate
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.
B.
Time for applying for license. 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 Margate for no longer than 90 days.
C.
Cats brought into Margate City.
(1)
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into
Margate City 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 Margate for a period of more than 90 days shall immediately
apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such cat.
(2)
Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought into
Margate any unlicensed cat and shall keep the same or permit the same to be
kept within the City of Margate City for a period of more than 10 days shall
immediately apply for a license and registration tag or sleeve for each such
cat.
D.
Application; contents; 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 designated
to license cats in the City of Margate.
E.
License forms and tags. 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 City of Margate.
F.
Evidence of inoculation with rabies vaccine or certification of exemption; requirement for license. No City Clerk or other official designated by the City of Margate 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 § 107-2D of this chapter. The rabies inoculation shall be administered by a duly licensed veterinarian or by such other veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
G.
License fee schedule. A license shall be issued after
payment of a fee of $9 for each unneutered cat and $6 for each neutered cat.
H.
Fees; renewals; expiration date of license.
(1)
Licenses 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 the license and
registration tax or sleeve shall be the same as for the original, and said
license, registration tag or sleeve and renewal thereof shall expire on December
31 in the following year.
(2)
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall
be required in the licensing year for any cat in Margate. Any valid New Jersey
license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality shall be accepted
by Margate as evidence of compliance.
I.
Proof of licensing. 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.
J.
Interfering with persons performing duties under this
chapter. No person shall hinder, molest, or interfere with anyone authorized
or empowered to perform any duty under this chapter.
K.
Disposition of fees collected. License fees and other
moneys collected or received under the provisions of this chapter shall be
forwarded to the Treasurer of the City of Margate and shall be placed in a
special account separate from any of the other accounts of the City of Margate
and shall be used for the following purposes only: collecting, keeping and
disposing of cats liable to seizure, for local prevention and control of rabies,
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 chapter. 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 the 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 chapter, any person who violates
or who fails or refuses to comply with this chapter shall be liable to a penalty
of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment of not more than 90 days, or both,
in the discretion of the Judge hearing the same.
[Added 12-24-1997 by Ord.
No. 1997-28]
A.
No more than five cats of licensing age shall be kept,
maintained or harbored at one time for any length of time in any residential
housing unit, or on its grounds, or in an industrial or business establishment,
or on its grounds.
B.
The owning, possessing or harboring of more than five
cats at the time of the adoption of this section shall become illegal within
four months from the final reading and passage of this section.
