Dear Mrs. Gung,

What brought me to your site was the story penned by Joel P. Engardio on January 18's Examiner. Upon visiting your website, I was impressed by the various ongoing projects and services that are in progress under the joint effort of your organization and the various local committees. 

I compliment your dedication to end the mistreatment of animal in mainland China and Taiwan, but your good intention of rallying other dog loving activists in San Francisco to have Governor Brown pressure Chinese officials will not only fail to advance your cause but will do more harm than good to it. Let me explain. 

First, you are rallying at the wrong place.Your missions statements says "Our mission is to build strong relationships between animal-loving communities in the United States and animal advocates in Taiwan and mainland China...". Where is the practice of slaughtering and eating of dogs happening? In mainland China, correct? Where are you rallying? In San Francisco.  Did the practice that you're rallying against ever happen in San Francisco's China town, in resorts and attractions where Chinese tourists frequent, or in Silicon Valley where large number of Chinese immigrants live? Or do you have reason to believe that it will ever happen in those places? I believe that the answer would be "absolutely not!". If so, as your mission statement proclaim, don't you think that your effort should be better focused on "building strong relationships with animal advocates in mainland China"?          

Second, your are rallying toward the wrong audience. Besides the hundreds of activists that you are expecting, who is your target audience at Union Square? Governor Brown? State officials who are responsible for some investment or economic collaborative projects in Guangdong? Or simply anybody who happens to pass by Union Square? Sure, your message will definitely arouse lots of emotions esp. among pet owner and animal lovers. Sure, these activists have a loud political voice.  But how would making your voice heard by Californians and maybe by the Governor of California help your mission of "building strong relationship with animal advocates in China"? Furthermore, your message as told in the Examiner, captured the attention of an audience that is probably not as expected: the Chinese immigrant community. Guess what? That story aroused emotions too. Unfortunately, it seems to rub that community in a wrong way: because your story is painting a bad image of Chinese immigrants or rather any Americans of Chinese descent. By doing so, you are actually alienating the Chinese immigrant community, many of which are pet owners and animal lovers and many came from Guangdong. These people could have been your allies and friend in your fight against mistreatment of animals in China. 

Third, you are appealing to the wrong authority. Again, your mission statement says ".. through the provision of financial and other resources for on the ground projects". Does other resources include political resources? Governor Brown is a politician, not an activist. On what ground, in what form would he speak up against the practice? For the sake of sister state? That's laughable. Even if Governor Brown heard the loud voice and sent some kind of message to officials in Guangdong against the cruel practice, do you think that message would have any authority over Chinese government officials? No, it would NOT have any impact on Guangdong government policy, i.e. it would not make any difference on changing the situation.  

Fourth, appealing to political forces will never help you accomplish your mission. You have said well on your website, "education is key to changing people's attitudes toward animals". Let's pretend that government policy of ending the practice of eating dogs is put in place in China. If the general population's view and attitudes toward animals have not changed, enforcement of such policy would be extremely difficult. 

I assume that you do not have unlimited resources, right? Then, why not focus and direct your time, money, and effort on actions that matter, on making more allies,  not on merely putting on a show?

Best regard,