Oh my, lavenderboozer, that is so sad to hear!

I feel really sorry.
I've heard stories like that before, where spiteful people take revenge on others by hurting their innocent pets. It's a very awful and coldhearted way to deal with a problem, and it makes you so angry, because there's no words for how WRONG something like that is.
Did they also try and put up "looking for Bandit" posters or asked around
in animal shelters of the area?
Hm. One good thing that's probably sure is that your daughter will never
ever be tempted to go back to that **** of a man. At least that.