McCain tops Obama among pet owners

A new Associated Press-Yahoo News Poll finds the majority of pet owners in the United States would vote for Sen. John McCain over Sen. Barack Obama.

The deciding factor?

McCain has two dogs and a cat. Obama has no pets. Another reason Obama isn't like most Americans.

The American Pet Product Manufacturers Association estimates that 63 percent of American homes include a pet, including 88 million cats and 75 million dogs, the AP says.

"From an image standpoint, nothing humanizes a candidate more than seeing him lovingly dote on his pet or toss a ball around on the White House lawn," American Kennel Club spokeswoman Lisa Peterson told The Associated Press.

Pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, according to the AP-Yahoo News poll.

Dog owners in particular identified with McCain.

The McCain family owns a lot of pets, including Sam the English springer spaniel, Coco the mutt, turtles Cuff and Link, Oreo the black and white cat, a ferret, three parakeets and a bunch of saltwater fish.

The poll found that among people who don't have pets (typically liberals who are too full of themselves to take care of a pet), Obama leads McCain 48 percent to 34 percent.

Dog owners lean toward McCain, 43 percent to 34 percent, while cat owners basically divide their loyalties with 41 percent for McCain and 38 percent for Obama, the AP reports.