License would cost $700 under plan
By Nick Norlen
Staff Writer
An ordinance introduced by both Princeton Borough and Princeton Township this week would require residents to pay a $700 licensing fee for dogs deemed “potentially dangerous.”
That designation could only be applied by a municipal judge to dogs involved in violent incidents — biting people or other domestic animals without provocation.
According to Township Attorney Edwin Schmierer, the ordinance is intended to recoup some of the costs incurred when impounding the dogs involved in such cases.
”We unfortunately have too many potentially dangerous dogs in our community,” he said.
At Tuesday’s Borough Council meeting, Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson said he has already spent as much as 40 to 60 hours on one case this year, and will have to spend more time testifying in court.
While Mr. Johnson said there were only two such cases in the borough last year, he said there have already been six in the township this year.
In June, a landscaper had to undergo surgery after he was attacked by five German shepherds in the yard of a Stuart Road West residence.
Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand acknowledged Monday that the proposed ordinance comes in the wake of such incidents.
”It really is going to help us not be in the red when we have these dogs that need to be housed,” she said.
The public hearings on the ordinances will be held Sept. 10 in the township and Sept. 11 in the borough.

