Michael Vick Cancels Oprah Appearance

Michael Vick has canceled his upcoming appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" citing "personal reasons" -- but a radio host who adopted one of the dogs saved from his dogfighting ring is convinced he and other pet owners were the reason behind it.

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was scheduled to appear on the Queen of Daytime's program next week, but pulled out on Wednesday night.

"Michael Vick was scheduled to be a guest on The Oprah Winfrey show for an episode airing next Thursday, February 24," a spokesman for Harpo Productions said in a statement. "Mr. Vick's representative called last night to cancel his appearance for personal reasons."

Though Vick's rep told the Daily News that the football player postponed the taping because of "the timing of the interview," a Dallas, Tex., radio host believes the cancelation is related to Vick's dogfighting conviction in 2007.

Richard Hunter said he and the other owners of the dogs rescued from the ring -- for which Vick was sentenced to 23 months -- pressured producers of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with phone calls and emails to include their voices in the episode in which he was set to appear.

"Unfortunately, Michael Vick has backed out of an opportunity to face tough questions regarding his participation in animal cruelty, including the torture of his own family pets," the "Richard Hunter Show" host told usatoday.com. "There was an overwhelming call from the dog adopters and their advocates to Oprah to have our voices included in the episode, and that may have been more than Mr. Vick was willing to endure."

Vick's rep said via email that Hunter's statement that Vick backed out over pressure from the pet's families was "not true."

On Monday, several of the dog owners started a petition on Facebook to get the "Vicktory Dogs" on Oprah's show.

"THIS IS ABOUT THE VICKTORY DOGS AND OPRAH'S OVERSIGHT OF THEM," the page reads. "THIS EVENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT THE DOGS. OPRAH STILL CHOSE VICK OVER THE DOGS, SHE DID NOT CANCEL -HE DID."

The page includes an open letter to Winfrey, which states "it is reprehensible" for the host to devote a show to a man "who has yet to truly make amends for his actions."

A rep for Harpo Productions told the Daily News via email that they spoke with the petition members and other animal cruelty groups.

"We were still in planning stages for the show so can't confirm if they would have been part of the final episode," the rep said.