Stafford Township, NJ Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Chapter 217 of the Stafford Township Code was adopted by the Board of Health on 8-19-1991 by Ordinance No. 91-1. Section 217-1 defines a cat as any member of the domestic feline species, male, female or altered, and sets the licensing age at six months. Its definition of owner reaches every person who keeps, harbors or maintains a cat or knowingly permits one to remain on or about premises occupied by that person, and it adds that anyone feeding stray cats for three days is the owner and subject to all regulations. A person who feeds a stray colony in Stafford is therefore treated as an owner with a license duty.

Under § 217-2, every cat must wear a collar or other device holding a metal disc that bears the name of Stafford Township, the year and the license number, affixed to the animal at all times. Section 217-3 sets the fee at $12 per animal for animals not spayed or neutered and $7 per animal for animals that are, for each annual license and renewal. A late licensee owes a delinquent fee of $5 per month, and licenses are secured within 30 days of January 1 each year.

Rabies control is built into the chapter. Section 217-4 requires the owner of a cat over six months of age to have it inoculated with an approved rabies vaccine, repeated annually or at the interval set by State Department of Health regulations, given by a licensed veterinarian. The Township can exempt a cat for a specified period on a licensed veterinarian's certificate that age, infirmity or other physical condition contraindicates vaccination, and cats confined in licensed boarding facilities, pet shops, shelters or veterinary hospitals need not be vaccinated. Under § 217-5, the owner of a vaccinated cat brought into the Township delivers the certificate to the Township and obtains a license within 10 days. Under § 217-6, a written or newspaper notice can require all cats confined during a rabies alert.

Enforcement belongs to the Animal Control Officer. Section 217-8 requires an annual canvass of cats owned, kept or harbored, with a report by September 1 listing unlicensed cats and their owners, and § 217-9 directs the officer to issue a summons or complaint to violators.