New Brunswick, New Jersey
MUNICIPAL CODE title 6, ch. 6.08, §§ 6.08.020 to 6.08.050
6.08.030 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
"Animal" means dog or cat.
"Animal control authority" means any person or agency designated or certified by the state to
enforce the provisions of this chapter.
"Cat" means any member of the domestic feline species; male, female, or altered.
"Cat of licensing age" means any cat which has attained the age of seven months, or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
"Licensing authority" means the agency or department of the city or any designated
representative thereof charged with administering the issuance and/or revocation of permits and
licenses under the provisions of this chapter.
"Neutered" means rendered permanently incapable of reproduction as certified by a licensed
veterinarian.
"Owner" when applied to the proprietorship of a cat, means and includes every person having a
right of property (or custody) in such cat and every person who has such 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.
"Stray cat" means any cat that is feral (wild) or is not maintained in the manner a household pet
would be cared for (i.e., veterinarian care).
(Prior code § 9-14.1)
6.08.020 Cat regulations.
A. Limitation of Number of Cats. No person shall own, keep or harbor more than three cats in
any residence or provided establishment within the city. This limitation shall not apply to the
litter of any such cat for an eight week period from the birth of the litter.
B. Feeding of Stray Cats. Any person who feeds stray cats must comply with Sections 6.08.040
and 6.08.050 of this chapter in reference to licensing and vaccination.
C. Property Damage. No person owning, keeping or harboring a cat shall permit or suffer it to
do any injury, or to do any damage to any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.
(Prior code § 9-14)
6.08.040 Provisions relating to rabies vaccination of cats.
A. Vaccination and License Requirements. No person shall own, keep, harbor, or maintain any
cat over seven months of age within the city, 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 are 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 in subsection (D).
C. Vaccination Certificate. A certificate of vaccination is 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 health officer, 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 is deemed inadvisable.
(Prior code § 9-14.2)
6.08.050 Licensing requirements.
A. Cats Must Have License Number Displayed. Any person who owns, keeps or harbors a cat
of licensing age shall annually apply for and procure from the city clerk a license and official
registration tag with license number for each cat owned, kept or harbored, and place upon such
cat a collar, or other device with the license number securely fastened or displayed. Acceptable
methods of displaying license number include, but are not limited to, break-away or elastic
collars. License tags 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 license tag for such cat within ten
(10) days after such acquisition or age attainment. This requirement will not apply to a
nonresident keeping a cat within the city for no longer than ninety (90) days.
Renewal applications for licenses for cats which are required to be licensed by the provisions of
this chapter are made before the first day of February of each calendar year. Any cat license not
renewed by January 31st of the current year will be charged a late fee of five dollars as of
February 1st and ten dollars ($10.00) as of June 1st.
C. Cats Brought into Jurisdiction. Any person who brings, or causes to be brought into this city
any cat licensed in another state for the current year, and bearing registration tag, and keeps the
same or permits the same to be kept within the city for a period of more than ninety (90) days,
shall immediately apply for a license and registration tag for each such cat.
D. Application, Contents, Preservation of Information. The application states 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 keeps or harbors such cat. The information on the application and the registration
number issued for the cat are preserved for a period of three years by the clerk or other local
official designated to license cats in the municipality.
E. License Forms and Tags. License forms and official tags are furnished by the municipality
and numbered serially, and bear the year of issuance and the name of the municipality.
F. Evidence of Inoculation with Rabies Vaccine or Certification of Exemption--Requirement of
License. The city clerk shall not grant any such license and official registration tag 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 subsection D of this
section. The rabies inoculation is administered by a duly licensed veterinarian, or by such other
veterinarian permitted by law to do the same.
G. License Fee Schedule. A license is issued after payment of a fee of eighteen dollars and
twenty cents ($18.20) for each un-neutered cat, and fifteen dollars and twenty cents ($15.20) for
each neutered cat.
H. The person applying for the license and registration tag pays the fee fixed or authorized. The
fee for the renewal or license and registration tag is a fee of eighteen dollars and twenty cents
($18.20) for each un-neutered cat, and fifteen dollars and twenty cents ($15.20) for each neutered
cat, and the license, registration and renewal expire on December 31 in the following year.
I. Loss of License. If a license tag has been misplaced or lost, the city clerk may issue a
duplicate license for that particular cat at a fee of one dollar.
J. Proof of Licensing. Proof of licensing is 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.
K. Interfering with Persons Performing Duties. No person shall hinder, molest, or interfere with
anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this section.
L. Disposition of Fees Collected. License fees and other moneys collected or received under the
provisions of this section, are forwarded to the treasurer of the city, and are placed in a special
account separate from any of the other accounts of the city and are used for the following
purposes only: collecting, keeping and disposing of cats liable to seizure, for local prevention
and control of rabies, providing anti-rabies treatment under the direction of the local health
officer for any person known or suspected to have been exposed to rabies and for administering
the provisions of this section. Any unexpected balance remaining in such special accounts is
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 third fiscal year following, and at the end of each fiscal
year thereafter, there is transferred from such special account to the general funds of the city 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.
(Ord. O-120701 § 4, 2007; Ord. O-030708 § 4, 2007; prior code § 9-14.3)