Your stepfather is/was rotten. We lived with my now ex husband's family for a spell. I was 19 and had a huge gray, long haired cat. One day I couldn't find him, and my father in law told me that he saw him under a neighbor's house. I crawled around on my hands and knees calling for that cat, until I heard my inlaws laughing at me from inside the house.
Years later, one of the neices told me that she was in the car when her mother threw the cat out...going at highway speed.
Those are the kinds of people that would make excellent human shields.
Sorry to hear about your cat. You can certainly understand how I felt. I never could forgive. Nor do I trust anyone who isn't kind to animals. Thanks for the reply.