PETA Protests Mike Tyson's Pigeon Racing Show Outside His Nevada Home

HENDERSON, Nev. — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals demonstrated outside Mike Tyson's suburban home to protest the former boxing champion's role in pigeon racing.

Henderson police spokesman Todd Rasmussen said Tuesday the PETA demonstration on Monday outside Tyson's gated hillside neighborhood was peaceful.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that some of the 20 protesters carried signs reading, "Featherweights: No match for a Heavyweight," and "Mike doesn't give pigeons a fighting chance."

An attempt to reach Tyson through his wife on Tuesday was not successful.

Tyson has been a pigeon racing breeder and fan since childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.

PETA's Lisa Lange says the protest followed Sunday night's debut of the Animal Planet show, "Taking on Tyson." It features Tyson competing with pigeon racers in the New York City area.

Comments

[Idaho dachnik]

01:18 PM on 03/14/2011

My neighbor in Everett WA was a pigeon racer and as I saw it- He could succeed because he knew the pigeons so well. It works because pigeons mate for life and they are so faithful to their mates. They are so diligent about getting home to switch out their mate on the nest that they speed home for all they are worth. In return for this entertainment they provide they were well fed and their young were well housed and safe. So it's a fair trade off to me. It is something that urban folk can do, and be in a club or solo.

[blue moon]

08:00 AM on 03/13/2011

I heard Mike Tyson speak on a radio show a few days ago and he said that he had spoken with people at PETA and they said they had no problem with his show because he's only highlighting what these amazing birds are born to do....But NOW that the show is about to air, PETA wants to steal the limelight and cry fowl...pun intended.

[Rawry]

06:40 PM on 03/13/2011

No surprise. Many in the PETA crowd are completely wacko. I used to work with some of them -- they would discuss things like theorizing "solutions" to predator-prey relationships so that no animal could kill another.. once the discussions about theoretically setting up partitions in the wild to keep lions away from gazelles and so on started, I was out.

[monte2115]

06:40 PM on 03/12/2011

PETA at this point does more harm than good. I am a vegitarian, BUT I never preach to others about it. Perhaps they should worry more about puppy mills and canned hunts, and leave pigeon racing alone

[David Durbin]

06:59 PM on 03/12/2011

I agree.

Pigeon racing? They wouldn't be doing this if it weren't Mike Tyson.

PETA is definitely doing more harm than good with this kind of blatant and pointless publicity seeking. And that angers me because there's a lot of real bad abuse of animals going on that needs to stop.

[mykel1955]

12:47 AM on 03/12/2011

PETA give it a break..... I saw him on a show a few weeks ago and he loves those birds. ANd those birds love to fly fast if they were abused do you think they would return to him.And if you piss him off I can see him twisting thier heads off and throwing them at you.

[funserious]

08:27 PM on 03/11/2011

Hey PETA eff off and leave the man alone,,,,,go roust some fur smugglers.

[Marlo Stanfield]

05:14 PM on 03/11/2011

I don't understand, what's PETA's problem here? There would be lots of various advocacy groups that might have a problem with Mike Tyson. PETA should not be one of them. By all accounts, though, he has been a dedicated pigeon breeder for all of his adult life. I've seen the ads/previews for the show and it really looks like he dotes on those pigeons. Why doesn't PETA protest New Yorkers calling pigeons "flying rats" and kicking/shooing them out of the way all the time?

I don't know....it looks to me like they are more interested in publicity than really advocating for the ethical treatment of animals here...

[NY Guy]

03:45 PM on 03/11/2011

What is PETA's beef ?

[iuriggs6]

11:20 AM on 03/11/2011

PETA can eff off.

[cupcake77]

05:59 PM on 03/10/2011

Educate me> I don't see the problem. So what exactly is wrong with pigeon racing?

[The Rokk]

12:09 AM on 03/11/2011

Are you serious! They take these birds and make them fly! What don't you see wrong with that?

[rampart231]

08:21 PM on 03/11/2011

that's what homing pidgeons live for.

[funserious]

08:28 PM on 03/11/2011

THE HORROR! :O

[bellstar]

04:30 PM on 03/10/2011

PETA is such a waste of time. If they want people to be better towards animals than they need to start with people being better towards each other.

[SanJoaquinValleyGrower]

02:00 AM on 03/15/2011

Will that garner as many cheesy celebrity $donations though?

[The Rokk]

03:53 PM on 03/10/2011

At this point I think PETA has already lost any credibility that it may have once had for example they put down over 90% of the animals they rescue (for proof just look at their legaly required financial disclosur form available on their website). They make outlandish claims equate food production to the attrocities of the 1940s. And there is even evidence that they have in the past financially supported domestic terrorist groups like the ALF and the ELF. This group should be laughed at more than taken seriously.

[Caligal1]

03:04 PM on 03/10/2011

I saw him on HBO and while undoubtedly he loves the pigeons, some of them he loves so much that he won't let them even fly. They are kept in these tiny cages and some he never lets out. I don't always agree with PETA but I think they are right here. He needs to recognize that these birds need to fly and that he can't use them for his own personal gain at their expense.

Yes, he is a vegan and kudos to him for that, but he needs to realize that he is exploiting these birds so that he can feel love and be entertained. He seems to be taking steps in the right direction, but I doubt that I'll ever be able forgive him because I don't think that rape is a forgivable crime.

[mwm4755]

02:56 PM on 03/10/2011

Do they think Mike Tyson gives a scentilla of a crap about their protests??

[funserious]

08:29 PM on 03/11/2011

I certainly hope NOT!

[hagagaga]

01:23 PM on 03/10/2011

They do realize that he is (amusingly) a vegan, right?

[SanJoaquinValleyGrower]

02:02 AM on 03/15/2011

are you serious?
that would be funny

[ezekieljw]

11:57 AM on 03/10/2011

Can people please get over Mike Tyson?! The man was crazy a long time ago, his life was so sordid that anyone dealing with the types of influences, pressures, and expectations of an adolescent sports phenomenon could have easily met the same controversies. Get over it!! www.ezekielj.com/blog