Howell, NJ Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 57-11 of the Howell Township Code governs cats. Registration age is defined in § 57-3 as seven months or the age when a set of permanent teeth appears. Under § 57-11(A), no owner of a cat that has reached registration age can keep, harbor or otherwise maintain the cat unless it is vaccinated against rabies. A licensed veterinarian must give the vaccine in line with the Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunizations published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians. The owner receives a certificate of vaccination on a form approved by the State of New Jersey. A cat can be exempted for a specific period on a veterinarian's certificate that an infirmity, other physical condition or regimen of therapy makes the inoculation inadvisable.

Registration is annual. Section 57-11(C)(1) requires every owner of a cat of registration age to register it with the Township each January, stating name, address, telephone number, breed, sex, age, color and markings, and whether the cat is long-haired or short-haired. The Township preserves that information for three years. No cat is registered without competent evidence of vaccination. A cat whose rabies immunity expires no more than two months before the end of the registration year is acceptable, but a cat whose immunity expired earlier needs a booster first.

The fees sit in Chapter 139, § 139-2: cat registration costs $4 for a spayed cat, $6 for a nonspayed cat and $2 for a public assistance registration. Under § 57-11(B), the Township Manager can sponsor yearly rabies clinics for cat and dog owners, and the number of clinics is set each year.

The feeding rule is in § 57-11(C)(2). The finding recited there is that large numbers of cats on and around properties are inimical to public health and welfare. Subsection (b) makes it a violation to harbor, maintain or feed unconfined cats, and subsection (c) states the purpose: to prohibit residents from feeding, harboring or maintaining unconfined cats on any properties out-of-doors within the Township of Howell. The running-at-large rule in § 57-7(A) also uses the word pet, which the Code defines as a domesticated animal kept for amusement or companionship, so it is not limited to dogs.