Animal Planet to air dog-raises-pig story produced by two KU students

LAWRENCE -- Who could resist a real-life "Babe" tale of a baby pig being raised by a dog? Certainly not the cable network Animal Planet, which will show the work of two University of Kansas students to a national audience.

In April, Animal Planet plans to broadcast the story produced by KU student television station KUJH-TV and journalism seniors Megan Sinclair of Wichita and Zachary Lee of Highland Park, Ill., on its "Amazing Animal Videos" show.

The show's producer learned about the news story and contacted Dick Nelson, KUJH-TV newsroom supervisor, about broadcasting the story. The KUJH-TV piece reveals the story of a Franklin County family's terrier, Clementine, who is raising a runt pig called Wiggles with her own litter of puppies. The family initially bottle-fed Wiggles but then discovered that Clementine was feeding the piglet along with her puppies. When separated, the piglet would squeal until reunited with her adopted dog family.

Lee, who will graduate from KU this summer with a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in television news, attended Highland Park high school in Illinois and is the son of Carole Howard-Lee of Highland Park, Ill.

Sinclair will graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in news and information. She attended Kapaun Mt. Carmel high school and is the daughter of Rob and Debbie Sinclair of Wichita.

The 1995 Universal Pictures movie "Babe" told the tale of a pig who is raised by a border collie and defies its destiny -- the meat locker -- by daring to be, of all things, a sheepdog.

For more information about KUJH-TV, please visit its Web site, www.ku.edu/~tv14/.