Plainfield, NJ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Article 4 of Chapter 5 of the Plainfield Municipal Code defines a dog as "any dog or dog hybrid" (§ 5:4-1) and creates two court findings. A vicious dog (§ 5:4-5) is one that killed a person, caused serious bodily injury, or engaged in dog fighting, and the Municipal Court must find it by clear and convincing evidence. A dog is not vicious for a death or serious injury it caused while provoked, and the City carries the burden of proving the dog was not provoked. If no appeal is filed, a vicious dog is destroyed, but never while an appeal is pending.

The lesser finding, potentially dangerous (§ 5:4-6), covers an unprovoked bite that poses a serious threat of bodily injury or death, the killing of another domestic animal that poses a threat to a person or to another domestic animal, and a dog trained, tormented, badgered, baited or encouraged to attack. Provocation, or a victim animal that was the aggressor, defeats the finding. Nothing in §§ 5:4-1 through 5:4-17 names a breed, so the finding follows the dog's conduct.

The process starts when an Animal Control Officer seizes and impounds a dog on reasonable cause (§ 5:4-2). The officer notifies the Municipal Court and the City Health Officer immediately, and within three working days of identifying the owner sends a certified letter. The owner has seven days to return a signed statement asking for a hearing or giving up the dog (§ 5:4-3).

A potentially dangerous finding brings a compliance order under § 5:4-7. The owner pays for a special City license, a registration number tattooed on the dog and a red identification tag. A warning sign must be legible from fifty feet of the enclosure. The enclosure needs sound sides, top and bottom, inside a fence at least six feet high and at least three feet from the confined area, and it stays locked. Outside it, the dog must be securely muzzled and tethered within a three-foot radius under the owner's direct supervision. The court can also require liability insurance naming the City as an additional insured. The owner must comply within no more than sixty days (§ 5:4-11), and the Animal Control Officer inspects the enclosure and property at least monthly (§ 5:4-15). Either side can appeal to the Superior Court, Law Division, which hears the case de novo (§ 5:4-8).