It would be worth the cost just to make sure she doesn’t do this to anyone else again. And it is open and shut. She wasn’t smart enough to hide it, she figured we were not quick enough to figure it out. She documented it all on her bills. I shared these bills with a second vet and he was so upset he offered to help in court.
“It shouldn’t have come to this, There was no excuse for this, Things like this make us all look bad”.
And I have an idea it has happened before.
Be prepared to go public in tandem with filing suit, then. Can’t speak for wherever you might be located but here there is a network newscast that delights in reporting of abuses, putting them on the spot live and on camera. It’s one of the few legitimate acts of investigative journalism remaining that I’m aware, and a genuine public service.