About 4000 dogs are missing in the Far North.
It's not that they've gone walkabout, it's just that their owners have yet to register them even though the deadline is just a few days away.
Last year about 8000 dogs were registered in the Far North. As of last week fewer than half that number had been registered for the 2014/15 year.
The council's early registration fee expires at the end of August. After that a 33 per cent penalty will be added.
Council field services operations manager Tamati Paraone said the Far North had some of the lowest dog fees in the country, and they had been kept low to encourage registration.