Jackson, NJ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Chapter 98, Article II governs dangerous dogs in Jackson Township. Rather than write its own vicious-dog procedure, § 98-16, last amended January 26, 1998 by Ordinance No. 3-98, adopts wholesale the uniform state process in N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq.: any dog or dog hybrid a municipal court declares vicious under N.J.S.A. 4:19-20, or potentially dangerous under N.J.S.A. 4:19-23, is handled through the state's required municipal court hearing procedure, and impoundment or destruction follows the state statute. What the Township sets locally is the license fee: § 98-17B establishes an annual fee of $500 for a potentially dangerous dog license or its renewal, payable in addition to complying with every other state requirement under N.J.S.A.

4:19-24. An owner who fails to meet those state conditions may be considered in violation of Ordinance No. 3-98. Under the article's general definitions in § 98-8, a POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS DOG is one declared as such by a municipal court under N.J.S.A. 4:19-23, and a VICIOUS DOG is one declared vicious under N.J.S.A. 4:19-22. The Animal Control Officer, a certified law enforcement employee of the Department of Public Works, handles seizure and impoundment of any dog subject to a vicious or dangerous declaration alongside the Jackson Township Municipal Court, which conducts the hearings the state statute requires.

Fees and costs tied to impoundment or destruction of a declared dog are set by the Jackson Township Code itself, per § 98-16, rather than by a state schedule.