A Victorian farmer has hit the state government with an almost $40,000 bill after claiming dogs, classified as dingoes, killed more than 100 of his sheep.

Scott Keller is based in Rainbow, north-west Victoria, where dingoes have additional protections due to the region's critically low population.

A debate has raged between farmers and conservation experts in the area about the difference between protected dingoes and wild dogs. 

Mr Keller claimed 160 of his sheep have been killed or injured by what he believes to be wild dogs and has 'invoiced' the Victorian government for $39,765 for his losses. 

He also said he applied for a permit to dispose of three dingoes, which he suspects are the wild dogs in question.

'There was one ewe that had been attacked that we had to put down – it had the udder eaten off of it and its guts were nearly hanging out the back between its legs,' he told 7News.

'At that point my father broke down... that's a bloke who has been farming for 55-odd years and seen a fair bit of crap in his time.

'In six weeks we'd lost 33 lambs... It's fairly disheartening.'

The Daily Mail has contacted the Victorian government for comment. 

Dingoes are protected as a threatened species in Victoria, with two main populations: one in the east and a smaller disconnected population in the north-west (the Mallee) near the Big Desert. 

According to the Victorian Dingo Unprotection Order, introduced in 2024, dingoes may continue to be controlled in eastern Victoria using lethal and non-lethal means. 

Dingoes remain protected in the north-west of the state, where the local dingo population is critically low and at risk of extinction – and where Mr Keller's farm is. 

'Farmers should note that it is difficult to distinguish between a wild dog and a dingo without DNA testing,' it says. Penalties apply for the destruction of wildlife such as the dingo.

In 2023, testing of a sample of wild dingoes and dogs in Victoria found 87 per cent had dingo genetics.

'We as a government recognise that dingoes are a protected and culturally significant native species,' Victorian Environment Minister Enver Erdogan told 7News.

'The dingo, to many Traditional Owner groups that I've spoken to, is not just a native species. We're talking about kinship. It's a totem animal, it's part of family for many Traditional Owners.

'We also acknowledge the serious impacts they do have on livestock.

'In the north-west of Victoria the focus is on conservation because the Mallee dingo population is at imminent risk of extinction. This is a real biodiversity travesty, so we need to take steps to protect them.'