SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio couple was shocked to learn Animal Care Services had euthanized their missing dog despite it having a microchip.



The Hilbrandt family's dog, Faith, escaped through an open gate in late July. Though she had a microchip, which ACS found, officials say its discovery wasn't properly recorded in their records, and she was put down on Aug. 17.



The family was notified after ACS staff realized the mistake. When Corey Hilbrandt received an email from the pet microchip company dated Aug. 19 letting him know ACS had their dog, he was relieved.



"I didn't think I was going to see her again," he said.



But when he called in to ACS, he found out that was still the case.



"When I got the email she was already gone," Hilbrandt said.



An ACS spokeswoman said Faith was brought in on Aug. 1 by someone who found her on Datapoint Drive, the same street on which the Hilbrandts live. It isn't clear if staff scanned her for a microchip when she arrived.



ACS staff did find her microchip during a pre-clinical workup sometime during her stay at ACS. However, it was not properly recorded.



When Faith wasn't adopted, fostered out or transferred to another shelter, ACS euthanized her. A final scan beforehand for a microchip turned up nothing.



ACS staff didn't find out about the positive scan until two days later while reviewing Faith's records.



"The human error is that someone messed up," said ACS interim director Xavier Urrutia. "We're sad we failed this animal. We did not save this animal's life, and our goal is to save every animal's life."



Urrutia said there may have been technical issues that contributed to not discovering Faith's microchip, too. He said ACS is investigating what happened and may take corrective action depending on what they find.



That could include disciplinary action, extra training or changing up protocol