Clifton, NJ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Article V, added October 17, 2000 by Ord. No. 6157-00, repealed Clifton's earlier breed-specific Pit Bull ordinance and replaced it with a behavior-based system. Under Section 203-36, Municipal Court declares a dog vicious only if it killed a person or caused serious bodily injury, or engaged in dog fighting; the dog is then destroyed once any appeal is exhausted. Under Section 203-37, a dog is potentially dangerous if it caused bodily injury during an unprovoked attack and poses a serious threat, or killed or seriously injured another domestic animal while posing a serious threat to a person or other animal; a dog is not declared dangerous if it was provoked, and the City bears the burden of proving otherwise.

1 then orders the owner to get a special potentially-dangerous-dog license with a red identification tag, tattoo the registration number on the dog, post a warning sign visible from 50 feet, and confine the dog in a locked, escape-proof enclosure with sound sides and top at least six feet high, set back three feet from the confinement area, muzzling and tethering the dog to a three-foot radius whenever it leaves the enclosure. The court may also require liability insurance naming the City as an additional insured. 2.