The Gender Gap and Policies toward Animals | 289 Table Gender Gaps in Pre-Election Polls of Likely Voters in Animal Protection Ballot Measure Contests State/Year Ballot Measure Question Pollster/Sample Size Gender Gap Animal Protection Election Outcome CA 2008 Prevention of farm animal cruelty Survey USA 661 sample 14 pts Victory 63%-47% MI 2006 Dove hunting Lake Snell Perry Mermin 500 sample 25 pts Victory 69-31% AZ 2006 Sow gestation and veal crates Lake Snell Perry Mermin 200 sample 15 pts Victory 62-38% ME 2004 Bear baiting, hounding, and trapping Decision Research 400 sample 11 pts Defeat 48-52% OK 2002 Cockfighting Decision Research 500 sample 19 pts Victory 56-44% WA 2000 Steel traps and poisons Decision Research 600 sample pts Victory 55-45% OR 2000 Steel traps and poisons Decision Research 600 sample 12 pts Defeat 41-59% OH 1998 Morning dove hunting Decision Research 800 sample 21 pts Defeat 41-59% MA 1996 Body-gripping taps, hound hunting of bears and bobcats, and wildlife board Decision Research 500 sample 14 pts Victory 64-36% WA 1996 Bear baiting and hound hunting of bears, cougars, bobcats, and lynx Decision Research 600 sample pts Victory 63-37% Polling data made available courtesy of Humane Society of the United States, with the exception of the 2008 SurveyUSA poll of likely California voters The polls have sampling error rates from / 3.5–4.5% nontarget wildlife, or involve weapons Studies of attitudes toward the environment also attribute women’s greater support for the environment to awareness of the consequences of human actions and concern for nonhuman beings (Zelezny, 2000) A related cultural explanation for the gender gap has been women’s experience of motherhood This approach argues that women’s responsibility for children translates into an ethic of caring and nonviolence However, a number of studies have questioned maternal thinking as the basis for the gender gap, since gendered differences in attitudes predate motherhood and are found to be especially strong among those who have never had children The absence of children in households has been associated