{"id":253,"date":"2011-10-29T20:52:35","date_gmt":"2011-10-30T00:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/heavenlycreatures\/?p=253"},"modified":"2011-10-29T20:52:35","modified_gmt":"2011-10-30T00:52:35","slug":"the-elephant-sanctuary-in-tn-mourns-the-loss-of-bella-the-dog-companion-to-tarra-the-elephant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2011\/10\/the-elephant-sanctuary-in-tn-mourns-the-loss-of-bella-the-dog-companion-to-tarra-the-elephant\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elephant Sanctuary in TN mourns the loss of Bella the dog, companion to Tarra the elephant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\nSad news today from The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee:\u00a0\u00a0Bella, the dog who made international headlines as the treasured companion of The Sanctuary\u2019s first elephant, Tarra, has died, likely as the result of a coyote attack.\u00a0In a letter on The Elephant Sanctuary website, CEO Rob Atkinson\u00a0writes:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\u201cWe noticed Bella was not with Tarra at breakfast on Tuesday and later that morning she still had not appeared. Tarra and Bella have always spent short periods apart as one goes off exploring briefly on their own, but this longer absence worried us deeply and a search of the property was started which continued into the next day. The search ended tragically when Bella\u2019s body was found close to the Asia barn that had long been home to Tarra, her five sisters and Bella.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDr. Scott, long-time veterinarian for Bella and all The Sanctuary\u2019s animals, determined the cause of death, saying in a press release,\u00a0\u201cBella\u2019s injuries show she was attacked by animals, probably coyotes.\u201d\u00a0Samples have been sent for analysis to check whether other causes may have contributed to her death. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_254\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-254\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/97\/2011\/10\/BellaTarraElephantSanctuary.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-254\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/97\/2011\/10\/BellaTarraElephantSanctuary-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-254\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bella and Tarra, in a photo from The Elephant Sanctuary website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEvery effort was made to provide Tarra with the opportunity to allow her to come to terms with Bella\u2019s death. \u201cWe expected Tarra to visit Bella, as elephants in their grief pay great attention to the bodies of their dead, but to our surprise Tarra stayed away,\u201d said Steve Smith, Director of Elephant Husbandry.<\/p>\nNo indication of a struggle was found anywhere near where Bella was found, and based on the extent of her injuries it was clear Bella could not have reached the spot herself. Furthermore, examination of the underside of Tarra\u2019s trunk revealed blood, the final evidence that pointed to the likely truth\u2014that Tarra had found Bella during or after the attack and carried her body back to the barn.<\/p>\nRob Atkinson concluded in the release, \u201cI am convinced Tarra experienced the death of her friend that fateful night, brought her home and said her goodbyes. Tarra was a true friend to the end, and Tarra\u2019s sisters and Caregivers will continue to take care of her, as she and Bella did each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0Bella came to the sanctuary in 2003 and was one of a\u00a0a dozen or more strays who found a home there. Most of the dogs and elephants left each other alone. But Bella became became famous when she and Tarra, the sanctuary\u2019s first elephant, became best friends. Ever since, the pair have shared an incredible friendship that has touched hearts around the world.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s truly a sad day for animal lovers everywhere. You can learn more about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elephants.com\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bella and Tarra and The Elephant Sanctuary on the sanctuary website.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sad news today from The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee:\u00a0\u00a0Bella, the dog who made international headlines as the treasured companion of The Sanctuary\u2019s first elephant, Tarra, has died, likely as the result of a coyote attack.\u00a0In a letter on The Elephant Sanctuary website, CEO Rob Atkinson\u00a0writes: \u201cWe noticed Bella was not with Tarra at breakfast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,12,13],"tags":[755,761,54,57,62,67,105,767],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-rescue","category-animals-in-the-news","category-dogs","category-elephants","tag-animal-rescue","tag-dogs","tag-elephant-sanctuary","tag-exotic-animals","tag-friendship","tag-hohenwald","tag-tn","tag-video"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>The Elephant Sanctuary in TN mourns the loss of Bella the dog, companion to Tarra the elephant<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sad news today from The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee:\u00a0\u00a0Bella, the dog who made international headlines as the treasured companion of The\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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