Vineland, NJ Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Chapter 224, Article VI defines the offense broadly: § 224-78 defines FEED as giving, placing, exposing, depositing, distributing or scattering edible material with the intent of feeding, attracting or enticing wildlife, and WILDLIFE as all animals that are neither human nor domesticated, sweeping in deer, geese and stray cats alike but excluding legal fish and game baiting. Section 224-79 then bans feeding wildlife in any public park or on any other property owned or operated by the City, with a carve-out for confined wildlife such as animals at zoos, environmental education centers or rehabilitation facilities.

Enforcement under § 224-80 is split between the Police Department and the Division of Code Enforcement, and the first response to a violation is not automatically a citation: the enforcing officer orders the person to cease the feeding immediately. If the conduct continues, § 224-81 authorizes a fine not to exceed $500 per violation. The ordinance was adopted city-wide on April 25, 2006 by Ordinance No. 2006-29, and it sits in the same chapter as Vineland's dog, cat and pig-keeping rules, reflecting the city's mixed urban-agricultural character on the edge of the Pinelands.

Because the prohibition is tied to city-owned property rather than all land in Vineland, feeding songbirds or squirrels in a private backyard is not reached by this article; the ban is aimed specifically at parks and other municipal grounds where accumulated feed draws large wildlife populations and creates a public nuisance or safety hazard.