By Hillary Leung

Copyright hongkongfp

Animal lovers have opened up their small businesses and homes to take in cats and dogs living in shelters unequipped to face the adverse weather brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa.

On social media, dozens of small-business owners – including those operating party rooms, gyms, and yoga studios – have offered to take in pets until the storm is over.

Hong Kong is bracing for winds as strong as 230 kilometres per hour and flooding in low-lying areas due to Ragasa, according to the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO).

After Party, a party room in Tsuen Wan, is currently housing 16 dogs and two cats.

Yuna Li, the owner of After Party, told HKFP she originally had bookings these few days but cancelled them so she could provide the animals with a temporary home.

On Monday, she published a post on her personal account on Threads, offering to accommodate dogs and cats in her 1,500-square-foot party room.

“I think it could accommodate 10 or 20 dogs or cats,” she wrote in Chinese.

Hours later, somebody left a comment sharing a post about 16 mongrels living in a shelter in Yuen Long that was in desperate need of help.

Li told HKFP that she was stuck in Japan due to Super Typhoon Ragasa and arranged for a friend to check out the shelter and meet the handlers. They later found volunteers to drive the pets from Yuen Long to Tsuen Wan.

By Monday night, 16 dogs, two cats, and around 20 volunteers had arrived at Li’s party room. The volunteers brought cages, food, towels and pee pads to lay on the wooden floors.

“I have a soft spot for animals,” said Li, who has four dogs.

She said she was meant to fly back to Hong Kong on Tuesday, but her flight was rescheduled to Friday because of the typhoon.

“If I were in Hong Kong, I would probably foster a few animals in my home too, on top of opening up my party room,” she said.

‘Nowhere to go’

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) hoisted the typhoon signal No. 8 at 2.20pm. Super Typhoon Ragasa, which barreled through the Philippines and Taiwan, is expected to be the city’s strongest storm since Mangkhut in 2018.

At an empty unit in an industrial building in Tuen Mun on Tuesday afternoon, Yoppie Lee and her friend were awaiting the arrival of dogs from a farm in San Hing Tsuen near Siu Hong.

The unit was the former site of Lee’s ear candling studio, Soul Ear’s. She had relocated recently, leaving the 200-square-foot room vacant, but the lease for it did not end until the end of the month.

“I saw other people saying online that they welcomed pets to seek refuge [in their small businesses],” Lee said in Cantonese. “I thought, ‘Well, I have a spare space. Why waste it?’”

After Lee published a post on Monday night saying her vacant studio could accommodate animals in need, a volunteer at a farm reached out to her.

The volunteer “said the dogs are usually taken care of by an elderly man who lives on the farm, but he himself will be moving somewhere else to shield from the typhoon,” Lee said. “So the dogs have nowhere to go.”

Lee said she did not have to do too much to prepare for the dogs’ arrival, as the volunteer had arranged cages and other necessities for them. Most of the dogs must be kept in cages to keep them from fighting, she said.

By Tuesday evening, Lee said all five dogs had arrived at her former studio. All but one of them were at least 10 years old, she said.

A collective effort

Several animal NGOs and shelters ended their calls for volunteers to temporarily foster their cats and dogs, saying most of their pets have found shelter.

Hong Kong Dog Rescue said on social media on Thursday that it was seeking “typhoon fosters” to temporarily rehome dogs at their Tai Po centre.

Another NGO, Kelly Animals Shelter, also coordinated the relocation of its cats and dogs, as well as called for donations of dog cages, harnesses and other equipment.

A Google Excel spreadsheet created by the shelter invited volunteers to fill in their name, how many pets they could take, and whether they would need a driver to bring the pet home. Volunteers also listed whether they had pets at home and if they had experience taking care of animals.

Hong Kong Dog Rescue said on Sunday that many of its dogs had been relocated to “safe, loving foster homes.” The remaining dogs are those who feel “most secure” with the centre’s staff and will be well protected there, it said.

“With most of our dogs now accounted for, we’re pausing foster recruitment for the moment,” it wrote in an Instagram post.

Meanwhile, Kelly Animals Shelter’s form stopped accepting submissions by early afternoon on Tuesday, saying they had found enough fosters.

On Tuesday evening on Threads, the Chinese keyword “typhoon foster” still saw users offering to donate pet supplies and open their doors to animals needing a home.

Many said they were touched to see Hongkongers “uniting” in their efforts.

“It makes me emotional seeing such enthusiastic responses to calls for typhoon fosters,” one Threads user wrote. “Thank you, everybody… I hope one day I will be in a position to lend a hand too.”