a pet cause

[KSSEEJ]

"Yesterday marked the end of a four-month public consultation on the idea, a key political objective of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and a pet cause of pro-Beijing Hongkongers who fear that the city suffers from a lack of identity with the rest of China"

Could anyone tell me the meaning of "a pet cause" , I could t find that in dictionary and get a precise meaning on web.

[Ouisch]

A "pet cause" means a favorite or preferred cause ,or campaign or soapbox . For example, actress Mary Tyler Moore was diagnosed with Type I diabetes back in the 1960s and ever since then she's done volunteer work for and raised millions of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It is her "pet cause."