“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Some lessons cannot be taught from a blackboard. They have to be felt. At Vandana International School, Sector 10, Dwarka, one such afternoon unfolded in our auditorium when a small, gentle rescue puppy walked onto the stage and, quite without meaning to, became the finest teacher our students had met all term.

The occasion was a special Humane Education session — Nurturing Compassion through Care — an initiative designed to help our students understand the animals who share their streets, their homes and their city, and to replace fear with knowledge.

Learning from a Champion of Animal Welfare

The session was led by Mr. Inder Sandhu, Founder of Peedu’s People, a non-profit organisation working across India to reduce human–animal conflict through bite and rabies management, humane education in schools and colleges, and the prevention of cruelty to animals. Mr. Sandhu was welcomed warmly to our campus by the school’s leadership with a sapling.

What followed was not a lecture. It was a conversation — and one that our students entered with remarkable energy. Hands went up across the auditorium, questions came faster than they could be answered, and for a full afternoon the room belonged to the students.

Understanding the Language of Dogs

Much of the fear that surrounds street animals, Mr. Sandhu explained, comes from a simple failure to read them. Dogs communicate constantly; we have simply never been taught the vocabulary.

Our students were introduced to the signals that tell us how a dog is feeling — happy, scared, excited, or anxious — through tail position, ears, posture and eyes. The insight that landed hardest was this: a dog that appears aggressive is very often a dog that is frightened.

Understanding this changes everything. A child who can tell fear from threat is a child who is both safer and kinder.

Staying Safe Around Street Dogs

The most practical segment of the afternoon was also the most memorable, as student volunteers were invited on stage to act out what to do if approached by an unfamiliar street dog. The guidance was clear and easy to remember:

• Do not run. Dogs instinctively give chase, and they are far faster than we are.
• Do not shout or scream. Noise and sudden movement escalate a situation that would otherwise settle on its own.
• Stand still and stay calm. Keep your arms folded in, avoid direct staring, and let the dog lose interest — a dog that is not challenged will almost always simply walk away.
• Do not disturb dogs while they are eating, sleeping, or with puppies. Most conflicts begin when an animal feels its food or young are threatened.
• Never tease, chase or throw things at an animal. Beyond being cruel, it teaches street dogs to distrust every child who passes.

Watching their classmates rehearse these steps on stage turned abstract advice into muscle memory — exactly the kind of learning that stays.

Rabies Awareness: Knowledge That Saves Lives

Mr. Sandhu also addressed rabies, a disease that remains a serious public health concern in India and one that is very nearly always fatal once symptoms appear — yet is almost entirely preventable when the right steps are taken.

Students were reminded that any bite or scratch must be reported to an adult immediately, that the wound should be washed thoroughly with soap and running water without delay, and that a doctor must be consulted at once for post-exposure vaccination. Concealing a bite out of fear of scolding, they learnt, is the single most dangerous thing a child can do.

The session also underlined the value of vaccinating and sterilising community dogs — the long-term solution that protects animals and people alike. A list of Delhi animal welfare helplines was shared, so that students would know exactly whom to call if they ever came across an injured or distressed animal.

Compassion, Duty and the Law

One of the more thought-provoking parts of the afternoon connected kindness to citizenship. Students learnt that compassion towards animals is not merely a personal virtue in India — it is written into our framework of rights and duties.

Article 51A(g) of the Constitution makes it a fundamental duty of every citizen to have compassion for living creatures, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 makes it an offence to beat, injure or torment an animal. Feeding and caring for community animals is a lawful and protected act.

For our students, this was a quiet revelation: that kindness is not just something good people choose to do, but something responsible citizens are called upon to uphold.

The Simplest Lesson of All

The afternoon closed with the moment everyone had been waiting for. The rescue puppy was brought forward, and students came up in turns to approach, sit down beside her and gently offer a hand.

There is a particular expression on a child’s face the first time an animal chooses to trust them. No presentation slide can produce it. In those few minutes, a good many students who had walked into the auditorium wary of street dogs walked out having made friends with one.

Why Humane Education Matters at VIS

At Vandana International School, we believe that academic excellence must be matched by strength of character. Sessions such as this one reflect our commitment to values education, empathy and responsible citizenship, and they carry benefits our students take well beyond the school gate:

• Safety: Practical, tested knowledge about avoiding bites and responding correctly to them.
• Empathy: The ability to see a living being as something other than a nuisance or a threat.
• Responsibility: An understanding that a city’s kindness is the sum of its individual choices.
• Citizenship: Awareness of the rights, duties and laws that protect the voiceless.

Our sincere thanks to Mr. Inder Sandhu and the Peedu’s People team for an afternoon of honesty, warmth and real learning — and to our students, whose questions proved that compassion, once invited in, needs very little encouragement to grow.

Because a child who learns to be gentle with an animal has already learnt how to be gentle with everyone else.

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