"When elephants are rescued and retire many pack their bags for the elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. They arrive there one by one but stay there two by two. Elephants mate for life and do better with a companion so every elephant that comes here searches out someone tospend most of their time with. Sanctuary co-founder Carol Butler says, "Its like best girlfriends. Its just like us, you know somebody that they have to relate to they have something in common with. Debbie has Ronnie, Misty cant live without Delorie and possibly the closest of all, Bella and Tarra,  This is her best friend and it just happens to be a dog and not an elephant. Bella is one of more than a dozen stray dogs that have found a home at the sanctuary, most want nothing to do with the elephants and visa versa. But not this odd couple, they are absolutely inseparable, they eat together, drink together, they sleep together, and play together. Tarra and Bella have been close for years but no one really knew how close until Bella suffered a spinal cord injury, she couldn't mover her legs she couldn't even wag her tail. For three weeks the dog lay motionless up in the sanctuary office while the elephant held vigil. 27000 acres and Tarra just stood in the corner. One day co-founder Scout Blake carried Bella onto the balcony to give Tarra a glimpse and her friend and some relief that she was still alive. Then, miraculously Bella's tail started wagging! Black recounts "You know and we had no choice but to bring Bella down to see Tarra, they visited like this everyday until Bella could walk."

 After that their love and trust was stronger than ever. Bella even let Tarra pet her belly with her foot! They harbored no fears and no prejudices, just two creatures who never considered their differences as a hinderance to friendship. (Hartman)."

 Hartman, Steve, dir. CBS (youll love it) Elephant and Dog story..Bella n Tara new WOW . Dir. Assignment America. kingkongphoto123 , 2009. Web. 2 Jan 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjyb0t5Jm44>. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjyb0t5Jm44>.

"The story took a sad turn this past November, when sanctuary workers found Bella's body. By all indications she'd been attacked by coyotes. Whether Tarra witnessed it, tried to intervene or was too late - no one knows. All they do know is that where they found Bella is not where she was attacked.  "When I looked around and saw there was no signs of an attack here. No blood, no tuffs of hair, nothing," said director of elephant husbandry, Steve Smith. "And Tarra, on the underside of her trunk, had blood - as if she picked up the body.

"Tarra moved her," Smith said. Steve's theory is Tarra carried Bella, possibly a mile or more, to bring her home.

Whether it really happened that way or not, no one doubts Tarra was that devoted.

"There's nothing we can do to take away her pain," said Atkinson. "The only ones who can help now are the elephants. And that is already happening."

Atkinson said the elephants are "stepping in and stepping up." He said they're spending more time with Tarra and being extra nice - making gestures like giving her a portion of their food.

 of course, anyone who's lost a dog knows you can't eat your way out of the grief - as much we might try -- but still nice to know at least Tarra's not alone in this.

 It's also nice to see that compassion is much more than just human (Hartman)."

Hartman, Steve, dir. Tarra and Bella: Elephant loses man's best friend. Dir. CBS News. 2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. , 2011. Web. 4 Nov 2011. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57319021/tarra-and-bella-elephant-loses-mans-best-friend/>. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57319021/tarra-and-bella-elephant-loses-mans-best-friend/>.