Must Love Dogs (and maybe ferrets).

Image details: Kitten and puppy on lawn served by picapp.com

A recent AP-Yahoo News poll shows that pet owners prefer a candidate that also owns pets.

In the 2008 election, their candidate of choice would be John McCain. The McCains own a variety of pets, including 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2 turtles, a ferret, 3 parakeets and a collection of saltwater fish.

The Obamas currently do not own any pets. Reportedly, however, he has promised his daughters that they will get a dog when then election is over.

The poll shows that among pet owners, 42 percent support McCain and 37 percent support Obama. However, Obama leads with the non-pet owners 48 percent to McCain’s 34 percent.

With dog owners, McCain leads Obama by almost 10 points (43% to 34%), but Obama narrows the gap a bit with cat owners.

The results of the poll are not surprising, given the demographics of pet owners. According to the poll, married whites tend to be dog owners, and, married whites tend to support Senator McCain.

No details regarding ferret owners were reported.