Nearly 1300 of the 16,187 known dogs in Dunedin remain unregistered and owners who fail to pay the fee could lose their dogs.
Senior animal control officer Jim Pryde said 14,890, or 92%, of dog owners had registered their dogs by this week's deadline, but the remaining 1297 would be sent reminder notices and charged a late fee of the original registration fee plus 50%.
Those who had not paid would be contacted and given another month to pay, but if the registration and late fee were not paid then, a $300 penalty for having a non-registered dog would be imposed.
If that was not paid, the dog could be removed by an animal control officer and impounded.
The number of dogs registered in the city increased by 600 this year and most of the new registrations were for pet dogs, which was a little surprising given current economic conditions, Mr Pryde said.
It was good news that compliance with registration had increased, too. At this stage last year, only 86% of known dogs were registered.
Of those who registered so far, 21% did so online, an option that was increasingly popular, he said.
Most of those who had not paid their fees so far were owners of non-working dogs.
Registration for a non-working dog is $88.
Registration fees paid for complaints investigations, impounding and care of wandering dogs, education programmes for the general public and the provision of dog exercise areas.
Dog control fines also went back into animal control activities.
