430 J Janssen Lines of Research for the (Near) Future Nearly half a century ago, a member of The Hague City Council, Schuckinck Kool, who was known for his activist streak said the following: ‘To abuse the relation based on mutual trust between parents and children is punishable by law while police dogs that are far more dependent than children are being exploited without any protest As a protester I think it is fair of me to say that that is a really dirty trick’ (Janssen 2008, p 20) In the foregoing, I have tried to show that the question of how the deployment of dogs in police work might influence their wellbeing is hardly ever raised Therefore, so little is known about the nature and frequency of abuse of these dogs The same goes for explanations and reactions towards abuse In that respect the dogs are indeed barking up the wrong tree With reference to the arguments I have put on paper and inspired by the enthusiasm with which the dog handlers talked about their jobs I have four lines of research in mind First of all, the well-being of police dogs should be thoroughly examined whereby the various tasks these dogs have to carry out are taken into consideration Such an investigation would provide valuable input for the debate on the well-being of these aothas Second, there should be an analysis of the implicit hypotheses and views on human-aothas relations in general and on the work involving aothas in particular, not only among policy makers but also among superior police officers, police practitioners such as dog handlers and members of public Are we to assume that aothas and humans are equal or are aothas chiefly considered as subordinate to humans? Third, we should consider the possibility of developing a framework of standards, so-called ‘check and balances’, on the basis of which the well-being of aothas deployed by the police can be monitored in a transparent way Fourth, it is of eminent importance to observe how interactions between dogs, their handlers, the superior officers and members of the public actually occur on the basis of observation studies Only then we can get a clear view of how dog handlers use their discretionary power that is to the benefit of the well-being of aothas such as dogs References Arluke, A (2004) Brute force Animal police and the challenge of cruelty West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press Arluke, A., & Sanders, C R (1996) Regarding animals Philadelphia: Temple University Press