I've often wondered if the old technique we used when cleaning pheasants in Iowa would work with pigeons, and similar birds.

With pheasants, we used to lay the bird on its back, spread one wing well out, place a foot on top of it right snug up next to the body, then do exactly the same on the other side. Grab the pheasant securely by both legs/feet, and pull strongly and steadily upward. In about 1 second you have the skinned breast laying on the ground neatly stripped from the guts and everything else, and all you have to do is cut off the wings. If you want the legs, there's a bit more work to be done, but we rarely bothered since most of the meat is in the breast. All very neat and clean. My wife would take the best feathers and make Christmas ornaments out of them for gifts, particularly for the farmer and his family who let us hunt their property in the first place.