ohmidog!

Remember Tarra and Bella, the elephant and dog who became steadfast friends at a Tennessee animal sanctuary?

Here’s a new development that’s almost as refreshing as the original story. After the report by Steve Hartman aired at CBS, The Elephant Sanctuary, located outside of Nashville, was deluged with calls and offers.

“The pair showed such devotion, such tenderness and trust, it was almost hard to believe,” Hartman reports in this update. “The whole story seemed like a Disney movie to a lot of people – including people at Disney.”

Disney pitched a live action movie that would star Tarra or another trained elephant. Scott Blais and Carol Buckley, cofounders of the sanctuary, answered with a resounding no.

“It just goes against the core of who the sanctuary is,” Blais said.

“We don’t want them to be in those environments where they’re dominated and trained to perform for people,” Buckley said.

As Hartmann summed up: “Here at the sanctuary, they’ve got this crazy idea that animals — elephants especially — aren’t just here to serve us. They honestly believe that some animals are here for the same reasons we are — to love and do for others, whether it’s appreciated or not.”

Well said, Steve-O.

While Tarra and Bella won’t be going to the big screen, they will be showing up in picture book. It will be coming out Sept. 8, and profits will be used to support the sanctuary.

To find out more about it, click here.

The original story of Tarra and Bella was one of most popular videos of all time at CBSNews.com, so it deserves an encore:

Watch CBS Videos Online