Karen I agree with everyone here. I would contact the veterinary board for sure. It may not accomplish anything (after all Socks is gone now ) but it will help you feel that you maybe shed a little light on some poor practices which may be remedied in the future.

I went to a vet, who had an an outstanding reputation, for many years. I took my Ashley (silver mini) in for a routine spaying. That evening I noticed that she was missing a front tooth and two of her front teeth were sheared off almost to the gumline! I was on the phone immediately with the vet and asked him what happened. He said "Oh I saw that she had some blood around her mouth but I assumed she had bitten her tongue. She was rather wild coming out of the anesthesia. She probably broke the teeth off herself on the bars of the cage." I said "didn't you even investigate to see where the blood was coming from?" and he said "no." I was livid! He offered to remove the damaged teeth free of charge! Imagine that! Needless to say I felt he was very incompetent!!!! Of course I changed vets and asked my new vet right away what he thought of this guy's attitude. He did agree that often dogs coming out of anesthesia are a bit "crazy" but felt it was unbelievable that he didn't check for the source of the blood!

Yes, unfortunately I think there are vets out there that have somehow lost their compassion for those they care for (just like human doctors unfortunately sometimes ). I'm sorry your mom had to go through this. If it does nothing more than help your mom to feel she put up a bit of a fight in Socks' behalf it will probably be well worth it. Good luck.