Mike Tyson to race pigeons on Animal Planet series

Animal Planet, the cable network that says it's the destination for animal lovers, announced on Monday it has purchased a new TV series in which it will introduce Mike Tyson, the heavyweight pugilist and avid pigeon fan, to the competitive world of pigeon racing.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says pigeon racing is like dog fighting, in that the birds are put into cruel circumstances for the sake of winning cash prizes for their owners, and those that don't prove themselves to be winners can expect to be killed.

Animal Planet says Taking on Tyson will introduce Tyson to an "intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating" sport at which he hopes to become "crowned champion all over again."

Peta President Ingrid Newkirk says of Tyson's breathtaking passion for his pigeons: "One wonders if Mike Tyson realises that ... these gentle, loyal birds who race their hearts out trying to get home to their life mates often end up lost in storms, or coming home just have their necks wrung for failure to beat their competitor's time."

Peta wonders if Tyson, in his anxiousness to rehabilitate his image, is being used to rehabilitate the image of a sport that needs instead to be exposed.