More than half of pet dogs in Seoul remain unregistered despite the city government’s efforts to reduce the number of stray dogs and boost animal welfare, data showed Friday.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, only about 220,000 pet dogs were registered as of September, which accounts for 44 percent of the estimated 500,000 dogs in the city.

The government made pet registration mandatory in 2013 as part of efforts to prevent the rising pet abandonment and loss rates, and to guarantee animal rights. If the dogs are not registered, the pet owners can be fined up to 400,000 won ($350).

While authorities have made efforts to encourage pet registration for years, the lack of awareness or a crackdown has contributed to low participation, city officials suspect.

Seoul City has implemented its own animal welfare measures from May last year.

The city has opened two pet playgrounds in the city, with another scheduled to open next year. The city said it would construct five pet playgrounds.

It has also vowed to seek 1,000 volunteers as pet abuse monitoring guards by 2020 and raise funds for animal protection.

Very little progress has been made so far, as the city has only 50 citizens as unpaid monitoring agents, officials said. They are still negotiating with civic groups on finalizing the fund-raising scheme as well.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)