[Adopted 4-2-1990 by Ord. No. 7-90 (Ch. 49 of the 1974 Code)]
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Mendham
have determined that the spread of rabies constitutes a serious threat
to human and animal health and safety, and it is the purpose of this
article to establish procedures recommended by the New Jersey Department
of Health for preventing and reducing the spread of rabies through
domestic cats.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any person or agency certified by the State of New Jersey
and appointed by the Borough of Mendham 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 agency or department of the Borough of Mendham 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 a cat in his or 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.
No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any
cat over seven months of age within the Borough of Mendham unless
such cat is 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. 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.
A certificate of vaccination shall be issued to the
owner of each cat vaccinated, on a form recommended by the state.
C.
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.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat over
seven months of age within the Borough of Mendham shall annually apply
for and procure from the Borough Clerk or other official designated
by the Borough Clerk to license cats 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 thereto.
B.
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. Any person who shall bring or cause to be brought
into the borough any unlicensed cat 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 or
sleeve for each such cat.
C.
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 a long or short-haired 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 municipality.
D.
License forms and official tags or sleeves shall be
furnished by the borough and shall be numbered serially and shall
bear the year of issuance and the name of the borough.
E.
No license or registration tag or sleeve shall be granted 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 § 73-23C 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.
A.
A license and registration tag or sleeve shall be issued after payment of a fee for each unneutered cat and for each neutered cat as set forth in Chapter 102, Fees. Any cat owner or person harboring a cat found to have an unlicensed cat by the Borough cat canvassers or any other municipal official after February 1 shall be required to pay an additional delinquent fee as set forth in Chapter 102, Fees, plus the required license fee as provided in Chapter 102, for his or her cat license, together with any other fines due to summons issued that may be imposed on him or her for failure to obtain a cat license before February 1. The aforementioned fee shall not apply to cats which have been acquired by the owner after February 1, for which the license fee shall be the same as required in Chapter 102. The owner, however, must present sufficient proof to establish that the cat was acquired after February 1.
[Amended 12-19-2005 by Ord. No. 34-05]
B.
Only one license and registration tag or sleeve shall
be required in the licensing year for any cat in the borough. Any
valid New Jersey license tag or sleeve issued by a New Jersey municipality
shall be accepted by this municipality as evidence of compliance.
C.
If a license tag or sleeve has been misplaced or lost, the Borough Clerk may issue a duplicate license and/or registration sleeve for that particular cat at a fee as set forth in Chapter 102, Fees.
D.
Licensing fees and other moneys collected or received
under the provisions of this article shall be forwarded to the Treasurer
of the borough and shall be placed in a special account separate from
any of the other accounts of the borough 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; 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.
[Amended 6-7-1999 by Ord. No. 15-99; 4-2-2007 by Ord. No. 3-07]
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall be subject, upon conviction, to the penalties provided in § 1-15 of this Code. Each day that a particular violation continues shall be considered a separate offense.