
THE NEW JERSEY DOG LAV/ 
HE New Jersey Legislature in 
1941 passed a dog law requiring 
that every dog owner in the State 
must obtain a license for his pet. 
The law that was signed by Gover- 
nor Edison May 31, 1941, has done all 
that it was expected to do, and is of 
great importance not only because of 
its application to so many dog owners, 
but because it was drawn with great 
care with the thought that it would 
serve as a model for other states. 
In its own language, ‘“The purpose 
of this law was to provide uniform 
licensing, registration and control of 
dogs throughout New Jersey, to regu- 
late sanitary conditions in kennels, dog 
pounds and pet shops where dogs are 
offered for sale, and to pay from license 
and registration fees for damage by 
dogs and for rabies prevention and 
control.” 
Annual Police Census 
It provides for an annual police 
census of all dogs in the State, fixes a 
license fee at $2 maximum and a $1 
minimum, without regard to sex, plus 
25 cents for a registration tag, fixes a 
license fee for kennels and pet shops 
and requires that the money collected 
shall be used for enforcement, for the 
payment of damages done by dogs and 
for anti-rabic treatments of any person 
known or suspected to have been ex- 
posed to rabies. If, at the end of the 
third fiscal year after the law becomes 
effective, there is an unexpended bal- 
ance over the amount paid in during 
the two previous fiscal years, it shall 
be turned into the general funds of the 
State. 
The history of the law is interesting. 
It began some years ago when Mrs. 
M. Hartley Dodge, leading the fight 
against compulsory one-shot vaccination 
of dogs against rabies, discovered the 
terrific confusion and conflicts that 
governed the regulation of dogs. It 
could better be described as non-regu- 
lation than regulation. Few states had 
16 
By ARTHUR ROLAND 
similar laws and there was seldom 
uniformity within state boundaries. 
It was obvious that an effort should be 
made to develop uniform procedure if 
rabies was to be combatted effectively. 
Those who attended the meeting in 
Madison, of the New Jersey dog own- 
ers, as represented by the various kennel 
organizations and sporting bodies in the 
State, will recall that at that time the 
complete lack of uniformity within the 
State, was cited. Some communities 
made a good job of enforcement and 
others did nothing about it. At that 
time the New Jersey Dog Owners’ 
Association was formed to combat 
rabies and work for a sensible and 
model dog law. 
It had the assistance of Mrs. Dodge 
in gathering dog laws not only from all 
parts of this country but from abroad 
so that they might be studied and their 
best features brought into a simple 
statute which could be easily enforced. 
It is not surprising that many will re- 
gard the new law as something of a 
monument to what she has done for 
dogs. 
Under Health Agencies 
‘The measure, which received almost 
unanimous support in both Houses of 
the Legislature, puts the machinery of 
enforcement under the health agencies 
of the State and its communities. This 
met with some opposition from the 
veterinary profession which held that 
the dog is primarily a veterinary prob- 
lem. The drafters of the bill, how- 
ever, held that where the dog comes 
into contact with the outside public, as 
contrasted with his owner, it is more 
apt to raise a medical question. 
It is the State Department of Health 
which is charged with issuing the 
licenses and with providing for the 
licensing and inspection of kennels, pet 
shops and pounds. It and the local 
boards of health can revoke licenses, 
after hearings, where the owners have 
failed to observe regulations. 
All dogs over six months old are 
subject to license and the money col- 
lected, except for the registration tags, 
is to be placed in a special fund, sepa- 
rate from other accounts of the munici- 
pality, to be used only “for collecting, 
keeping and disposing of dogs liable to 
seizure under this act or under local 
dog-control ordinances; for local pre- 
vention and control of rabies; for pro- 
viding anti-rabic treatment under the 
direction of the local board of health 
for any person known or suspected to 
have been exposed to rabies; for pay- 
ment of damage to or losses of poultry 
and domestic animals, except dogs and 
cats, caused by a dog or dogs and for 
administering the provisions of this act.” 
When Dogs Are Picked Up 
Any dog off the premises of the 
owner without a registration tag or any 
female in season running at large is to 
be picked up as a stray. Where the 
identity of the owner can be learned he 
is to be given notice that the dog is 
liable to destruction if not claimed 
within seven days. A maintenance fee 
not to exceed 50 cents a day, can be 
charged for dogs that are reclaimed and 
other expenses of the detention must 
be met. If dogs are not reclaimed they 
are to be destroyed “in a manner caus- 
ing as little pain as possible.” 
“Seeing Eye” dogs must be licensed 
but no fee is to be charged for them. 
Institutions where dogs are kept for 
diagnostic, medical, surgical or other 
treatments under the immediate super- 
vision of a graduate licensed veteri- 
narian are included in the act’s provi- 
sion. And one article declares, “No 
provision of this act shall be construed 
as giving any authority for the com- 
pulsory inoculation of dogs with anti- 
rabic vaccines.” 
As in the case with all laws, this 
one provides the means rather than the 
assurance that the situation at which 
they are directed will be remedied. It 
(Please turn to page 23) 
