Hamilton, NJ Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 550-74B(9), the accessory-use provision for Hamilton's R-15, R-10, R-7 and R-5 Single-Family Residential Districts, permits not more than four dogs or four cats over six months old for individual domestic purposes in any single-family detached residence, and clarifies that any single-family detached residence may contain only a total of four dogs or cats altogether, meaning the four-animal cap is combined, not four of each species. Homes in the R-5 Residential District get a lower ceiling: all residences may contain only a total of two dogs or cats altogether, with a temporary exception letting a litter, or part of one, stay for up to six months.

Subsection (9)(a) carves out two exceptions to the household cap: it doesn't apply to an operating farm at all, and it doesn't apply to a resident of a single-family home who is an active member of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue organization fostering dogs or cats temporarily, though even a registered foster home is capped at six fostered animals over six months old on top of, not instead of, the ordinary household limit. A separate, more generous limit applies outside these zones: § 550-73B(1)(k) lets any single-family detached residence in the RRC Rural Resource Conservation or R-25 Zone keep up to six dogs or cats altogether, reflecting those districts' larger, more rural lot sizes.