Piscataway, NJ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Piscataway's animal control chapter defines a vicious dog in Section 5-1 as any dog that a Municipal Judge has declared vicious because it attacked or bit a human being, or because it habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals. Rather than banning any breed, Section 5-3.1 adopts by reference the State's entire set of requirements for owners of vicious or potentially dangerous dogs under N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq., with a copy of that law kept on file in the Township Clerk's office. Section 5-3.2 sets the Township's own charge for that process at $700, payable when an owner applies for the potentially dangerous dog license, registration number and red identification tag the state law requires.

Because the underlying declaration turns on a specific dog's conduct rather than its breed, an owner cannot be required to comply with Section 5-3 unless a Municipal Judge has actually issued the vicious or potentially dangerous declaration. Once that declaration exists, Section 5-9.1.e gives Piscataway its own backstop: the dog can be seized directly by any Police Officer, and if the dog cannot be seized safely, the officer is authorized to kill it, a power reserved specifically for dogs already found vicious or potentially dangerous under Section 5-3, not for ordinary strays or unlicensed dogs.