If the $700 fee is intended to shift responsibility from taxpayers to the dogs' owners, I'm all for it.

The Village is looking anywhere it can to raise more money. It will be voted down just like the latest idea on the trees. Looks like I took down alot of trees too quickly!

Have the Village managers published just waht they will do by monitoring, what its purposes are, and how they will achieve and publish their intended outcomes.?

I think a lot of questions and concerns would be answered if folks took the time to read the actual State statute. It can be found at...
ftp://www.njleg.state.nj.us/20062007/A5000/4597_I1.PDF

We can argue about the fee charged but we can't change the law itself.

Only in Ridgewood. Maybe the Village should charge parents a $700 fee to monitor their teenagers if said teens are thought to be drinking alcohol?

who are they to say what dog is dangerous? i live next door to the sweetest pitbulls ever- but i have seen one of those yappy dogs take a bite out of a friends face-

What fund will the village put the fees toward? What department paid for the other? Parking meters paid for water department?

The cost of a dog license should be the same for all dogs. If a dog is dangerous, it shouldn't be allowed to live in the town.

This is like charging murderers double for coffee.

It's a TOTAL JOKE!!! Just another way to choke us taxpayers! It won't pass & if it does I hope the Village is prepared to deal with the backlash.

It just shows how far wrong so many people can be about something, the issue of dangerous dogs is not new, and with more of the issue turning to fighting dogs for money (listen to the news) and people getting attacked over and over many locations have changed their laws to curb the liability of these types of dogs here is the list (http://dangerousdogs.net/) I know of many cases where people cannot rent an home/apartment because of this, also most insurance companies will cancel of raise your premiums if you own these case of dogs. So people need to wake up to the law suit and liability issue of these dogs, and if towns do not do something, just wait and start complaining about your tax increases now, because someone has to pay!!

so i a german shepard considered a dangerous dog?

Well if someone needs to reread or understand it may be you Craig and I will quote "Where does it say anything about fighting dogs, Those locations you speak of are larger inner-cities that have stray dog problems.." I never said anything about inner-city dogs, and for fighting dogs you might want to do little homework!
There is a large issue with "Dangerous dogs all over, the city, country, your back yard, in the park they could be anywhere. I love dogs and all animals but there are way too many owners who do not understand how to train a dog or what the responsibility entails. All you need to do I listen to the TV and you will hear people being bitten big or small, and if you do not believe me go to your local shelter and ask around, you might have a rude awakening!
As for Kevin you would need to ask your town?

Again Mr. Hueneke...a politician has nothing to do with deciding which dogs are "vicious". The law that is already in affect, and has been for years, for ALL municipalities in NJ makes the distnction. It is only after a judge hears the evidence that a dog may be declared "vicious" or even "dangerous". The law does differentiate between those two classifications also. The only matter the council is deciding is the amount to charge the owner for the special lcense the state would require should the owner chose to keep the dog. There are also other mandated requirements such as a muzzle, posting of the property and a fence which would be required. If the Village doesn't set a fee for the license than the fee is set by the state and at present that is $150. Please read the statute before you comment again.

I live in Ridgewood and my 13 year old, 18 lb. bichon frise was mauled this past summer by the neighbors 6 year old standard poodle as I was leaving my back porch stepping onto my driveway. The standard took my bichon into her mouth by the throat and proceeded to flip my helpless dog into the air several times and throw her onto the driveway like she was a chew toy. The pain and suffering my dog has endured cannot be measured in dollars and cents. I am at the vet with her constantly to try to give her some quality of life. Because I thought I was being a good neighbor, I never reported to the police the 2 previous attempts that this dog tried to grab my dogs (I have 2 other dogs). Consequently, the 3rd and successful attempt went virtually unpunished (nominal fine). The vet costs for my family far exceed $700. I believe that this ordinance is a responsible action on the part of the village council and will provide an incentive for homeowners to either get the proper training for an unsocialized and aggressive dog or pay the higher licensing fee.

I am so sorry to hear about that barbara! I wish you and your dog well. I had a german shepard get into my backyard and attacked my pit bull while we were all out there. After 1200 bucks of vet bills and a very skittish dog on my hands the vet actually demanded that I tell him which dog did this. So glad I did because it came out that this same dog had done this twice before.
We as dog owners need to take responsibility for our own dogs!