My dog got out once (as he gets irritable if I don't walk him for a few days) and he just walked himself around the block, peeing on a few trees (every 2nd-3rd one, even when its one drop).
But when my cat got out we had to go to the kennel and pay something like $100 or something (to pay for the cage to look after him, we actually had to "buy" the cage that they kept him in).
Also, my friends dog got let out a few times by one of their neighbours as they were irritated with it, and then they called the council (like... Mayor's office but for Aus). And after the 3rd time they figured out who was doing it and boy did they get in trouble...
At least you're not one of those iditos that walks em leash free and they run all over the road, too many dogs get hit that way
(sry bout long post but...) Once I found a lost dog, returned it, owner's didnt care blah blah. (took me 30mins to find them from where I found him) and then a few weeks later it was out again (bloody useless owners) and when I was walking it back home it just so happened to run onto the road and get hit by a car (as I didn't have a spare leash on me and I didn't want to risk my dog getting hit, I love him too much). I was so p*d at the owners.