Lucknow, Dec 17 (IANS): The lure of money is making dogs and monkeys go black.

With the astrological programmes on social media going overboard in highlighting the power of ‘Shani’ (Saturn) and astro gurus prescribing feeding of black dogs and black monkeys as a cure for the ills brought about by ‘Shani’ effects, the demand for black dogs and black monkeys has escalated in recent months.

“The demand for spotless black dogs has risen manifold in recent months while the demand for black monkeys is comparatively less because not everyone willing to having a pet monkey. Black dogs, without even a speck of any other colour, are extremely rare but we have to cater to the demand,” said Raju, who now earns up to Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month selling black dogs.

How Raju gets these black dogs is an interesting story. This young man, in his mid-thirties, steals puppies of good breed and then dyes them black.

“Pedigreed dogs that are black (read dyed black) can easily fetch up to Rs 6,000 while street dogs that are spotlessly black are sold for Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500. When we do not get dogs of good breeds, we depend on street dogs for a living,” he explains.

However, he insists, that he uses "good quality hair dye" to make sure that the dog does not suffer an allergy.

Raju and half a dozen other ‘entrepreneurs’ like him manage to sell over a dozen dogs every week.

“We do not have a shop. We sit with the dogs on roadside and within no time, the customers start lining up,” he added.

The puppies—black, brown or white, are dyed black and then sold. “Since we use good quality dyes so that the animal does not suffer any allergy and it takes two to three months before the dye starts wearing off. By then the customer and his family get so emotionally attached to the animal that they keep him despite his changing colours,” Raju said.

While the black dog business is booming in several major cities, the black monkey business is mainly restricted to holy places like Allahabad and Varanasi where foreign tourists seems rather enchanted by black monkeys.

“Black monkeys are extremely rare to find and foreign tourists give us money if we possess one. Just one black monkey is enough to help us sustain our family,” said Kripa who walks around the ghats of Varanasi with his Bhole, a brown monkey that has been dyed black.

“I dye Bhole’s hair every six weeks so that his brown hair does not show up and he gets me my daily bread,” says Kripa.

Raju and Kripa are unaware of the fact that dyeing dogs and monkeys can attract action under the Wildlife Protection Act that prohibits the use of chemicals on animals.

The police, meanwhile, feel that it is too trivial an act to warrant attention.