For those who are wondering how yesterday's incident was resolved, here is an update:
In the evening, I heard a car door slam and the car drove away quickly. I went outside and saw that Lightning had DISAPPEARED. I went around to various neighbors and ask if they knew what was going on. They said no. I start looking around the neighborhood for Lightning, who I thought had got loose from his chain. The mother, her boyfriend, and her son arrive home while I'm outside looking for Lightning, and they are FRANTIC. I tell them that Lightning is either loose, or has been stolen. I take the son and we start going house to house to ask if anyone saw anything. Then the mother gets a call from the Humane Society. It turns out that the grandmother had taken Lightning to the Humane Society, and they turned her away because it was not her dog and she did not have the authority to turn it in. They told her to take Lightning back home. While we are waiting for Lightning's return, the boyfriend is extremely angry. "Oh no, she better not have stolen my dog!" I go back into my house because I don't want to see the scene that transpires when Lightning is brought back by the grandmother. After about an hour, I go back outside and see the son playing with Lightning, and peace has been restored. Another day in my neighborhood.
This morning, everything is peaceful. No sign of Lightning. I assume that the boyfriend, who is the person who gifted Lightning in the first place, has taken Lightning home with him. I expect that Animal Control will be paying the household a visit this morning. Only the grandmother is home, so I'm hoping that she gets the lecture she deserves on how to care for a puppy in her care.
-----
During all that transpired last night, Bella was extremely upset, running around the house barking and panting. Bella absolutely loves Lightning, and I think she was sad to see how he was being treated by the grandmother. Here are a couple of songs that Bella was singing upon Lightning's return
:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NuofNHKbVc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM_99DtI0tE
In case those two songs don't load properly in your browser, they are "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels and "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las.