Animal Ordinances in Woodbridge, NJ (2026)
9 verified animal ordinances for Woodbridge, New Jersey, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Chickens & Livestock
Woodbridge bars cattle, rabbits, sheep, goats, ducks, swine, horses, chickens and similar farm animals on residential property unless the Department of Health and Human Services grants a special permit after inspecting the premises. Coops or hutches must sit in the rear yard, stand no taller than six feet, cover no more than twenty square feet, and sit at least ten feet from any property line; the annual permit costs $75.
Woodbridge Backyard Chicken and Livestock Permit
Significant RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 11-8.1
No person shall maintain, keep or harbor on any interior or exterior residential premises in the Township any cattle, rabbits, sheep, goats, ducks, swine, horses, chickens or similar nondomesticated animals or fowl, excluding pigeons. The Department of Health and Human Services of the Township of Woodbridge may consider and review, in its sole discretion, certain requests for a special permit w...
Dog Leash Laws
Woodbridge bans letting any dog run at large and requires that any dog on a public street or in a public place be on a leash and accompanied by someone at least sixteen years old who can control it. The rule under §§ 11-5.1 and 11-5.2 applies to cats and other domestic animals too, and violators face the penalty set in § 11-5.12.
Woodbridge Leash and At-Large Dog Law
Some RestrictionsWoodbridge Code §§ 11-5.1, 11-5.2
§ 11-5.1. Running at Large Prohibited. No owner shall permit or allow any dog, cat or domestic animal to run at large. § 11-5.2. Animals to Be Controlled By Capable Person. No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog, cat or other domestic animal shall suffer or permit it to be upon public streets or in any public place of the Township, unless such dog, cat or other domestic animal is on a l...
Breed Restrictions
Woodbridge does not write its own breed list or dangerous-dog hearing process; § 11-5.6 instead adopts and incorporates all of N.J.S.A. 4:19-1 et seq. wholesale, so New Jersey's state vicious- and potentially-dangerous-dog statute controls. Locally, § 11-5.7 lets police seize any dog that attacks, causes injury, or is used in dogfighting, pending the state-law hearing process.
Woodbridge Vicious and Dangerous Dog Rules
Light RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 11-5.6
§ 11-5.6. Vicious Dogs and Potentially Dangerous Dogs. The Township hereby adopts and incorporates herein all of the provisions of N.J.S.A. 4:19-1 et seq. as amended and supplemented.
Exotic Pets
Keeping an exotic animal in Woodbridge requires two permits, one from the State Division of Fish and Wildlife and one from the Department of Health and Human Services, and the animal can never run loose or contact the public without consent. Bringing any poisonous animal into a public place is banned outright under § 11-8.5, with no permit available at all.
Woodbridge Exotic and Poisonous Animal Rules
Significant RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 11-8.4; § 11-8.5
No person shall have or keep on any premises in the Township exotic animals without having obtained a permit from the State Department of Fish and Wildlife. In addition thereto, a permit must be obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services in accordance with Subsection 11-8.1. [...] At no time and under no circumstances can any person bring or cause to be brought into any public pl...
Wildlife Feeding
Woodbridge Code § 3-51.3 bars feeding wildlife in any public park or on Township-owned or operated property, updating a similar 2006 ban in § 11-10. Confined zoo or rehab-center animals, environmental-education-center wildlife, and cats in an approved trap-neuter-release program are exempted, and both provisions carry their own separate fines.
Woodbridge Wildlife Feeding Ban in Parks
Some RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 3-51.2, § 3-51.3
FEED To give, place, expose, deposit, distribute or scatter any edible material with the intention of feeding, attracting or enticing wildlife. Feeding does not include baiting in the legal taking of fish and/or game. ... No person shall feed, in any public park or on any other property owned or operated by the Township of Woodbridge, any wildlife, excluding confined wildlife (for example, wild...
Cat Rules
Every cat over seven months in Woodbridge must be vaccinated against rabies and licensed annually with the Department of Health and Human Services, capped at five licenses per household, and anyone feeding a stray cat outdoors must first have it spayed or neutered. License fees run $13 for altered cats and $23 for unaltered ones, with a $3 late fee after November 1.
Woodbridge Cat Licensing and Feral Feeding Rules
Some RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 11-4.2
No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat over seven (7) months of age within the Township unless the cat is vaccinated and licensed. The provisions of this section do not apply to cats held in a cattery, or those held by a State or Federal licensed research facility or a veterinary establishment where cats are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical, or other treatments ...
Coyote Management
Woodbridge bans discharging bows, crossbows and slingshots anywhere on Township-owned or leased property, but § 3-47.2 lets the Police Director authorize discharge to facilitate a deer management program. There is no coyote-specific ordinance in the Township Code; this deer exception is the only wildlife-population tool tied to projectile weapons.
Woodbridge Deer Management Bow Exception
Significant RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 3-47.1, § 3-47.2
No person shall, except as specifically permitted in Subsection 3-47.2, be permitted to discharge a long bow, recurve bow, compound bow, crossbow, slingshot or other device which impels a projectile through the use of force, on any property owned, or leased by the Township for any purpose including the hunting of any animal. ... The discharge of any long bow, recurve bow, compound bow, crossbow...
Pet Store Rules
A Woodbridge pet shop cannot sell a puppy or kitten straight from a breeder. Section 11-6.3 limits stock to dogs and cats obtained from or displayed with an animal shelter or a nonprofit rescue organization, bars any sale of an animal younger than eight weeks, and requires a license from the Department of Health and Human Services before the shop can operate at all.
Woodbridge Pet Shops: Shelter-Sourced Sales Only
Significant RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 11-6.3
A pet shop may offer for sale only those dogs and cats that the pet shop has obtained from or displays in cooperation with: 1. An animal shelter facility; or 2. An Animal rescue organization. b. A pet shop shall not offer for sale a dog or cat that is younger than eight (8) weeks old.
Pet Groomer Rules
Anyone operating a dog or cat grooming business in Woodbridge, mobile or stationary, needs a license from the Department of Health and Human Services before opening. Section 11-6.4 sets the annual fee at $150, separate from the $225 charged to kennels and pet shops, and the license expires every January 31 along with every other license issued under the chapter.
Woodbridge Pet Grooming Establishment License
Some RestrictionsWoodbridge Code § 11-6.1; § 11-6.2; § 11-6.4
GROOMING ESTABLISHMENT Shall mean any facility, whether mobile or stationary that washes, clips or trims dogs and cats, but where such animals may or may not be kept overnight. [...] No person shall operate or maintain a kennel, pet shop, pound, shelter or grooming establishment without first obtaining a license. [...] The annual license fee for a grooming establishment shall be one hundred fif...