She's probably emotionally ramping it up to them and portraying it as a mean man trying to take their new pet away.
Sick.
Just sick.
She sounds low enough to do just that very thing.
The only out is if she is genuinely sick, and not "sick" as I know you meant it.
Everyone I've told about this story is just as incensed as we are about it. Think maybe she is on some kind of power trip that is giving her a weird kick out of the control and attention.