I get where you're coming from in the extreme, but animals do get lost or into situations they can't get out of. We took in two stray kittens as outdoor cats and we'd occasionally have to go around the neighborhood to find them because they'd be behind a wall in someone else's yard and forget how to make it back.

As soon as they saw our faces over the wall they'd follow us to an opening or the gate and then find their way home.

Ultimately, one of them met an untimely end from some stray dogs. But that's life.