Wayne, NJ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Article IX of Chapter 68 repeats the State dog-bite framework in the township's own code. Under § 68-59.2, the Municipal Court declares a dog potentially dangerous if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the dog caused bodily injury to a person during an unprovoked attack and poses a serious threat of bodily injury or death, severely injured or killed another domestic animal and poses the stated threat, or was trained, tormented, badgered, baited or encouraged to attack. A dog cannot be declared potentially dangerous for injuring a person if the dog was provoked, or for injuring or killing a domestic animal that was the aggressor. The definitions in §§ 68-59.1 and 68-60.1 reach any dog or dog hybrid declared by a Municipal Court.

Section 68-60.2 sets the vicious finding: the dog killed a person or caused serious bodily injury to a person, or engaged in dog fighting. A provoked dog cannot be declared vicious, and the municipality bears the burden of proving the dog was not provoked. Unless an appeal is made, a vicious dog is destroyed in a humane and expeditious manner, and no dog can be destroyed while an appeal is pending.

For a potentially dangerous dog, § 68-59.3 requires the owner to apply, at his own expense, for a special municipal license, registration number and red identification tag, and to have the registration number tattooed on the dog. The owner must post a warning sign visible and legible from fifty (50) feet of the enclosure and build an enclosure with sound sides, top and bottom inside a fence at least six (6) feet high and separated by at least three (3) feet from the confined area. Outside the enclosure, the dog must be securely muzzled and tethered within a radius of no more than three (3) feet from the owner. The Court can also require liability insurance naming the municipality as an additional insured for cancellation notices. Compliance is due within sixty (60) days of the determination, and § 68-59.7 ties the annual license to Chapter 75, which lists $500.