“Super Typhoon Ragasa” animal welfare casualties apparently light

“Super Typhoon Ragasa” hit six nations in four days before blowing out

HONG KONG,  MANILA––Super Typhoon Ragasa,  expected to be one of the deadliest and most damaging typhoons on record,  instead seems to have proved chiefly that weather is still often unpredictable,  and as regards animals,  that animal welfare organizations in Southeast Asia are well prepared.

A week after Typhoon Ragasa,  also called Typhoon Nando,  began a long sweep across Taiwan,  the Philippines,  Hong Kong,  southern China,  Vietnam,   and Laos,  ANIMALS 24-7 had yet to receive any reports––or find any online––of animal welfare organizations suffering animal losses or catastrophic damage.

Conspicuously quiet,  so far anyway,  are the major international animal charities headquartered in the U.S. and United Kingdom that usually descend vulture-like to raise funds around any hint of a disaster abroad.

Weakening storm left relatively few human casualties

Weakening from Category Five wind velocity to Category Four before hitting Taiwan,  and dropping to Category Three over most of the rest of its course,  Ragasa/Nando reached the Southeast Asian mainland as only a strong tropical storm,  not to be taken lightly,  but nowhere near the apocalyptic event for which multi-millions of Southeast Asians were braced.

The human death toll included eleven victims in the Philippines,  including the seven-member crew of an overturned fishing boat.

Fifteen people were reported dead in Taiwan with 33 missing,  all but one of them victims of a flash flood in eastern Hualien County resulting from a broken dam created by a landslide earlier in 2025.

As of September 27,  2025,  no human deaths from Typhoon Ragasa/Nando were reported anywhere else.  Neither had any jurisdiction reported livestock or wildlife losses.

Philippine shelters battened down the hatches

The Animal Health & Welfare Division of the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry announced repeated office and animal shelter closures in anticipation of both Typhoon Ragasa/Nando and tropical storm Bualoi,  also known as Typhoon Opong,  which hit the Philippines soon afterward.

The two storms displaced more than 400,000 people between them,  87,000 of them from the eastern Bicol region.

Philippine Animal Welfare Society [PAWS] executive director and attorney Anna Cabrera noted,  as Bualoi/Opong made landfall,  that “There are already numerous reminders for pet owners to never leave pets behind and if,  for any compelling reason they cannot take their pets,  to please make sure the animals are not caged or tied down.

2024 San Juan city pound disaster remembered

“Last year though,”  Cabrera remembered,  “it was a local government unit’s negligence that brought about the drowning of impounded animals in the San Juan city pound.  Another animal welfare organization––not PAWS––filed charges against those responsible,  and the city veterinarian was replaced.

“Neglect is defined as failure to provide adequate care,”  Cabrera said.  “City officials can be charged for violation of the Philippine Animal Welfare Act for neglecting to keep pound animals safe.”

The July 2024 San Juan city pound drownings came to light through photos posted by an animal welfare group called Strategic Power for Animal Respondents,  GMA Integrated News reported.  Rescuers told GMA Integrated News that they managed to evacuate 20 dogs and eight cats,  but were too late to save another eight cats.

Business as usual in Taipei

Spot-checking the web and social media pages of Taiwanese animal welfare charities,  mostly clustered in the Taipei area,  ANIMALS 24-7 found no emergency appeals associated with Ragasa/Nando,  and indeed not even a mention of the typhoon,  as most appeared to be operating as normal.

Taipei,  the capital city of Taiwan,  is about 90 miles north of Hualien County,  where the typhoon damage and human death toll were worst.

Taipei hosted the Asia for Animals conference during the last week of August 2025.

“All okay” at Animals Asia Foundation

“We’re all okay here in Hong Kong at Animals Asia,”  Animals Asia Foundation founder Jill Robinson emailed to ANIMALS 24-7.

“We consider ourselves very lucky that all staff and accommodations held,”  Robinson continued,  speaking for an organization that operates extensive sanctuaries for rescued former bile farm bears in both Chengdu,  China and in Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam,  near Hanoi––both close to the path of Ragasa/Nando.

Ragasa/Nando “was heavy in Sai Kung,  New Territories,  near where I live,”  Robinson acknowledged,  “with beautiful big trees fallen,  dislodged roofs and fencing in surrounding areas,  and fishing boats damaged and upturned in the sea.

“I hate to think of the consequences had it been a direct hit” by Ragasa/Nando,  Robinson said,  “rather than skirting close by.”

“Little harm to animal or human”

Added Animals Asia Foundation animal welfare education manager Karina O’Carroll,  “It was a big one––but thankfully,  due mostly to the advanced warning and time for everyone to prepare,  we seem to have come out the other side with little harm to animal or human.

“In regards to shelters and their needs,”  O’Carroll said,  “most seem to have fared okay.  Hundreds of dogs were moved into temporary foster homes and most shelter managers stayed on site at their venues. There are some calls for towels and clean-up help,  mostly clearing leaf and tree debris,  but as of yet have not read of any animal losses due to the typhoon,  miraculously.”

Sai Kung Bovid Watch “back to normal operations”

O’Carroll is also cofounder,  with Carol Biddell,  of Sai Kung Bovid Watch,  a 15-year-old organization that monitors and assists,  as needed,  the feral cattle and buffaloes of the Sai Kung area,  one of the eighteen Hong Kong administrative districts.

The cattle and buffaloes chiefly dwell in the higher wooded hills,  well above and away from the shoreline.  Typhoon Ragasa/Nando did not change their habits.

Hong Kong and the New Territories also have large populations of wild macaque monkeys,  feral pigs,  and many species of birds,  among other wildlife,  but “There haven’t been any reports to me or to Animals Asia, as of this moment,  regarding any injured wildlife or any other species in need––so thankfully again we have hopefully have come out the other side,”  O’Carroll told ANIMALS 24-7.

As of September 24,  2025,  the Sai Kung Bovid Watch page on Facebook said the all-volunteer team was “back to normal operations.”

Hong Kong SPCA & Kadoorie Farm

The Hong Kong SPCA,  founded in 1903,  and beginning shelter operations in 1921,  reputedly handling the most animals per year of any humane society in Asia,  also appears to have experienced no significant damage from Typhoon Ragasa/Nando.

The second oldest animal aid institution in Hong Kong is the Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden,  occupying most of Kwun Yum Shan mountain above the New Territories village of Paak Ngau Shek.

Founded by electricity tycoons Horace and Lawrence Kadoorie in 1951,  Kadoorie Farm debuted as an agricultural training institution,  but by 1995 had evolved into a heavily wooded wildlife rehabilitation and nature education center.

“Following our team’s work to check and fix the damage from Typhoon Ragasa,”  Kadoorie Farm reported via Facebook,  “the Lower Hillside of KFBG,”  including most of the animal care facilities,  “will reopen at noon on September 26,  2025.

“The Upper Hillside,”  offering extensive hiking trails,  “will remain closed until further notice for safety reasons,”  Kadoorie Farm said.

Hong Kong dog shelters

Earlier,  as Typhoon Ragasa/Nando approached,  Hong Kong Dog Rescue told Hong Kong Free Press reporter Hillary Leung,  Leung wrote, that “many of its dogs were relocated to ‘safe,  loving foster homes,’  leaving only those who feel ‘most secure’ on site with the rescue staff.

Kelly Animals Shelter of Hong Kong also “found enough fosters,”  Leung said.

“As Super Typhoon Ragasa bore down on the city,”  reported Dimsumdaily Hong Kong,  “the Hong Kong Homeless Dog Shelter enacted its emergency protocols to ensure the safety of its resident animals,  moving all dogs to secure indoor locations.

“The shelter’s founder,  Angela Chan,  provided a calm update via social media as conditions began to deteriorate.  She reported that while the wind was increasing, conditions were not yet at their most severe,”  Dimsumdaily Hong Kong reported.

House of Joy & Mercy

The House of Joy & Mercy,  “home for more than 200 animals,  is located in a remote and low-lying area, often facing severe flooding and other problems in typhoon season,”  posted Wai Ming Eva Lam to the Hong Kong Pet Owners page on Facebook.

“About 50 small-sized dogs were evacuated,  and there are still 100 senior and large-sized dogs in need of a temporary home,”  Wai Ming Eva Lam said.

But apparently all was well three days later at the House of Joy & Mercy too,  as Wai Ming Eva Lam was back to posting routine photos of animals offered for adoption.

Shenzhen,  China “did not forget stray animals”

TAILS Lantau in Hong Kong “issued public reminders on social media to ensure pets were kept safely indoors during the storm.  They advised measures such as keeping pets away from windows,  using soft music to ease anxiety,  and keeping food and water stocked,”  said Google AI.

Offered Meta Guangdong,  from Shenzhen,  just across the mainland Chinese border from Hong Kong,  “Even during the typhoon, Shenzhen did not forget stray animals.  Volunteers worked late into the night to bring homeless cats to temporary shelters.”

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