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My family's iron clad rule when traveling: Every nose is counted before the engine is turned on. That happens each and every time any door is opened in the vehicle or RV. When there are children or pets, it is done out loud.
It started when we stopped for gasoline and a small dog was sitting by the pumps, looking eagerly at everyone who arrived. The attendant said that the dog had slipped out of a car unnoticed and the owners had driven off and left him. They never came back for him.
I told my in-laws about the dog and they told me they had once driven off and left a child at a gas station. Everyone got out and when they left, the people in front assumed that the child was in the back and the people in the back assumed that the child was in the front.
They drove over 100 miles before anyone noticed that the child was missing. Fortunately, in that case, they turned around and went back for her and the child was not harmed in their absence.
So, my family has the habit of verifying that everyone is actually on board before the key is turned to start the engine.
We once thought we had the opposite problem.
I had a cat that loved to travel. We would not have been able to do your nose count, for it was the start of the engine that 'called' the cat to the RV.
We were in one of the big pullouts in Big Sur, having lunch and watching the ocean. A big pusher stopped with the same idea. After they left, we could not find our cat. We worried that he had paid them a visit and they rolled away with him- either known or unknown.
Right about the time my husband was going to jump in the truck and chase them down, kitty came out of the brush.
We've adopted one of our best Corgi's ... a 3-yr old at the time she was rescued ... from exactly this type of situation. She was abandoned at a Grand Junction CO rest stop, and spent a day or so there before somebody picked her up and brought her to the local animal shelter.
Her disposition and behavior showed that she was somebody's pampered pet, used to getting lots of attention and loving care. Her health checked out, this was a dog that was properly fed and cared for, exercised, groomed, trimmed, and while unverifiable ... likely very current on all her shots. But no microchip and no tags on her collar ... and the no tags was explained by her chewing off the plastic tag when we put one on her collar or catching the ringding fastener and losing a metal tag in a few days. Perfectly house trained, quiet in temperament in the house, enthusiastic about working her livestock when outdoors ... looks like she had some agility training, too.
You'd have a very difficult time finding a better conforming to type and well trained dog. IMO, her loss wasn't an intentional abandonment. My bet is somebody assumed she was in the car and drove off without her ... this dog loves to burrow into the dog blanket on the back seat or disappear into the stuff in the back of my OBWagon, where she can watch the scenery go by yet not be seen by the driver.
My late wife and I almost "rescued" a cat from a rest area several years ago. We stopped at the rest area on Hwy 59 between Wright and Douglas on our way to Denver. A very friendly cat was hanging around the building. We wondered if it might have been left behind, as there didn't appear to be any ranch houses within several miles. A few days later on our way back to Gillette we stopped there again. And again, there was the friendly cat. She wouldn't leave us alone, finally climbing into the car behind us. Wife and I talked about it. She'd been wanting to get a cat and this one seemed to want a family. We finally decided to take it. Closed the car doors and started driving off... then spotted a mobile home at the corner of the rest area property! Yikes!! We stopped and let the cat out, and she went directly to the front door of the mobile home. LOL
I'm one of six siblings. I got left at home, at the start of one vacation. It was about 15 minutes before they noticed and came back for me. Another time we were out to buy fast food for dinner. Got all the way home before we noticed the youngest sibling was still back at the place ...
I'm very careful to count noses. I take cross country trips with kids, dogs, and cats and would really hate losing one of them.
My parents actually did that --- more than once. My sister was a quiet child and was the last one in a gas station bathroom. When she got out, she saw the car off in the distance driving away. She was only 6 years old so she just sat on the sidewalk at the gas station alone. She knew eventually they'd notice she wasn't there and come back.
One time they got home from a trip at 2 am and realized that the family dog didn't get home with them. They remembered that for sure the dog got into the car when they first left and they had made one rest area stop for kids to use the bathroom but that was 130 miles away. They were pretty sure the dog was history but as she was part of the family they all got back into the car --- you have to at least make an effort..... As they got closer, they were watching the side of the road and calling for the dog. Nothing. It as after 4 am they made it to the rest area which was completely empty -- except for the family dog sitting in the exact spot they had parked in over 4 hours earlier. Just waiting for them to come and get her.
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