Bayonne, NJ Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Article VII of Bayonne's animal control chapter, headed simply 'Wildlife,' contains a single operative section, § 5-26, dating to the 1972 Code § 6-26: no person shall feed birds, rodents or any other non-domesticated wildlife on public streets, sidewalks, parks and/or public places. The prohibition is written broadly enough to cover pigeons, geese, squirrels and rats along with less common wildlife, and it applies specifically to public property rather than a resident's own yard, so feeding on private property is not reached by this section.

The placement of the ban inside the animal control chapter, alongside the dog and cat licensing articles, puts enforcement in the hands of the same officials who administer the rest of Chapter 5, including the Animal Control Officer and the Police Department, and the Health Department has an interest in the rule given its role administering rabies and sanitation provisions elsewhere in the chapter. Because Article VII sets out only this one section and no separate penalty clause, a violation is governed by the chapter-wide penalty at § 5-17, the same fine and jail exposure that applies to unlicensed dogs, leash violations and vicious dog offenses elsewhere in Chapter 5.