THE outback dogger is set to return in numbers to the vast rangelands of Western Australia.

The WA state government has finally reacted to massive livestock losses and will pour almost $9 million into the fight against wild dogs, Perth Now reports.

The Barnett government will spend $8.82m over five years to employ an extra eight doggers and upgrade and extend the state barrier fence to help keep dingoes away from stock.

Announcing the funding yesterday, West Australian Agriculture Minister Terry Redman said the problem of wild dogs had been building up for the past decade.

He said the reasons included pastoralists failing to focus on the issue and an increase in mining tenures.

"The $8.82m of Royalties for Regions funds is to try and break the back of the issue over the next five years and get ourselves back to what I call a level playing field, so that our normal processes are able to cope with what's out there," Mr Redman said.

Pastoralist Will Scott is hoping the money will help stop his massive goat losses, which he says have cost him $1m in 18 months.

"I've dropped from 40,000 (goats) to under 20,000 in 18 months. That's all because of dingoes," Mr Scott said.

The owner of a 400,000ha station near Mount Magnet, 560km northeast of Perth, Mr Scott said both government and pastoralists should take the blame for the rapid increase in wild dog numbers.

"(It was) a lack of effort by many pastoralists and a complete lack of effort by the government for taking all the doggers out in the `90s, apart from a handful.

"The problem just blew out of control; two dogs can turn into 30 dogs in no time."

Mr Scott added that when the wool industry collapsed in the early 1990s and farmers switched to cattle, wild dogs were not a focus because cattle were not as vulnerable.

He estimates that there are now 35,000 wild dogs between the Pilbara and the Nullarbor, based on a study he did 18 months ago of between 70 and 80 stations.

Wild dogs are estimated to cost the nation $66m a year, primarily in lost lambs and calves, according to the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre.