LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Lubbock Animal Shelter received an unusual number of calls Sunday about a pool of blood seen under an LAS vehicle, blood that neighbors thought came from an animal.

Earlier that day, an LAS employee was accused of picking up what was reported as an injured animal, then leaving the dog in the vehicle at their home overnight.

Neighbors say the employee did come and check on the animal, which soon became quiet.

Lubbock Animal Services Director Steven Greene says protocol was not followed and unfortunately, the dog was euthanized that evening.

“Typically, what you would do if you had an injured animal, you would bring it into the shelter, take it into the clinic is what we call it and you would assess it medically and if it did need euthanasia, you would perform it humanely and under our strict protocols,” Greene said.

Greene says they take incidents like this seriously and want what’s best for the animals.

“If something like this happens somebody is definitely going to be held accountable,” Greene said. “But the people here really want to help animals. We spend a lot of time and effort and blood, sweat, and tears doing this and the health of the animals is the most important to us, whether it’s keeping a healthy population here in the shelter or out in the community.”

The shelter is investigating the incident while the employee is on paid administrative leave.

Greene wants the community to know this incident was unacceptable.

“We look at it internally, we look at it through the entire city department and we do take this serious and we want the community to have trust in us that we are trying to do this the right way,” Greene said.

“Sometimes, for whatever reason, somebody just makes a mistake and so mistakes happen, but they are not allowed to happen in situations like this.”