By buried, I assume you mean they installed a fence? Or did they bury a wire for an electronic fence?

If it's electronic that means the dogs will be going into the neighbors yard to do their business. I would be a little ticked if my neighbor did that and would request they remove the fence.

I don't know how someone could miss the fact that digging was done in their yard, but you could always leave an anonymous note in the mailbox of the neighbor whose property was trespassed.

I'd leave it alone. If a problem arises, it is between the neighbor who has unknowingly received a dog fence, and the dog owner. You don't need to be in the middle of any dispute.

If its not your property, I wouldn't bring it up. Its not your problem.

It depends on which neighbors you know I guess. It could almost come up casually in conversation: Gee it was nice of you to let Bob put his dog fence in your yard! (Or: Gee it was nice of Joan to let you put your fence in her yard!)

Is it possible the fence guy got permission?

It would sure bug the &%#* out of me though.

No the neighbors do not know as the trespassers told me so in a casual conversation. It is just a wire so they said that the neighbors won't even notice it.

What a sleaze!

Have the dogs been running free up to now? Maybe it's an improvement and they'll only run partway over the neighbors' properties instead of pooping on the doorstep?

It's really kind of weird.

I wouldn't want any neighbor to do this to me and my property so I would just use the kind of comment fori suggested in order to alert the involved neighbors.

And I wouldn't care to be friends with someone who would deliberately do something like that.

Not that I'm a tough cookie, if the trespassers gave me grief, I'd give it back to them double and I'd make sure all of the neighbors knew what they had done.

If you know where the wires are, it sure would be a shame if they accidentally got cut, wouldn't it?

I would let the neighbors whose yard was dug into know. What if they decide to plant something there and are digging and hit the dog fence. Maybe that is where the actual property line is, maybe you don't know where the property line is.
I would say to the people whose yard the fence was buried in: I didn't realize your neighbors yard went that far into where I thought your yard is when I saw "the dog fence people" install fence. It may not have been noticed being installed. You can make a cut into the lawn and push the wire down into the cut, not even dig a trench.

I do know where the property line is as survey has been done on 2 of the properties. Yes the trespassers just cut into the lawn for the wire so it is not obvious.

I think this is one of those Golden Rule situations:

If you were the one whose property had been dug into, would you want your neighbors to stay out of it or would you want to know?

I'd let the property owners know.

If I felt shy or leary about it, I'd send them a postcard.

Uh, Golden Rule? -- I thought the Golden Rule was Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
IMHO, stay out of it. It's none of your beeswax. If someone were getting hurt (literally), then I would say butt in. If you feel the need to stick your nose in, then the honorable thing to do would be to approach the people that did it, not be a sneaky tattletale.

forgot to say that if you follow the "none of your beeswax" line of logic, then it's also "none of your beeswax" when someone ties up his dog, beats his dog, poisons the neighbor's dog, sells drugs (until/unless someone gets *hurt*, & then it's too late, isn't it),...

I agree with Sylvia. Since I'd want to know, I think the violated neighbors deserve to know what's been done. Telling them would be the honorable thing to do.

Ditto to what Sylvia said

There is a good Russian saying, a rather negative description of the "keep my nose out of it" syndrome - translated as
My house is at the end of the street and I never hear anything

Must be nice to live at the end of the street

If someone trespassed on my property and I found out later that a neighbor witnessed this and told me nothing I would feel betrayed.

Fori's suggestion of mentioning the fence to the neighbor casually, with the assumption that they already knew about it, is a way to get the information across.

Thank you for the responses. I see most of you would have liked to have known about it. I have not said anything, but still struggle with what I should do. Not only did they trespass and bury this thing on 2 properties they also put me into a very uncomfortable position of what I should do.

You said, "they also put me into a very uncomfortable position of what I should do".

IMO, they haven't done anything to you. You've put yourself in that position and you should do what you believe is the right thing and then move on.

Do keep us posted on what you decide!

I agree with Annz completely. My mama always used to say, 'those little balls of pain you are carrying will kill you.' Make a decision and let that little ball of pain go--one way or another--it's not worth your health or sanity.

If it were me, I'd use the casual conversational tidbit approach suggested by fori and izzie. If confronted by the slimy neighbor later, I could even defend my slip; "Oh, I NATURALLY assumed you had their permission before you put your fence on their property. I didn't realize you meant to involve me in something illegal..." **gasp**

They've hidden a live electrical wire on people's property and you are questioning what you should do? Do you not feel like you have a moral obligation to notify them? If I considered the potential hazards to the property owners, I think that issue would be resolved for me.

If you explain your reservations about potential back-lash from the offending neighbor, I'm sure the three of you can come up with a solution where you are not involved. (Perhaps, one neighbor noticed the wire and notified the other).

I wouldn't have any reservations about snipping the wire on my property from both ends and disposing of it. Let them ponder their deed while buying a replacement system.

kittens, while I agree that the OP should notify the neighbors, it is NOT a live electrical wire, I don't believe. It sounded to me as if OP is talking about an invisible fence system which uses a simple cable and an electronic signal that goes to the dog's collar. One would not get shocked unless they were wearing the collar.

oh, they might have different kinds. I was looking at one and the wire itself needed to be plugged into a house outlet.

I have an invisible fence and it is plugged in but you don't get a shock from it. As was said in the previous posting it sends a signal to the dogs collar and even that is pretty harmless. I've tried it. It's more of a buzzy feeling but it works great for dogs or cats.

Is it the sort of thing that might cause injury if one nailed it with a rototiller or something? It sounds kinda dangerous. I really have no idea how thin these wires are, obviously, but I've thrown out my shoulder on English ivy so it seems a wire might be even worse.

Next thing you know the guy will train his dogs to poop by the wire. What a turd!

NO, it will not hurt you. They are plugged in but they are NOT electric! If you are not wearing the collar, it is simply a fairly thin cable, that's all. All that will happen if you run over it with the rototiller is you will cut the line and have to repair it, we've done that many times.

The neighbour needs to know - its not being a tattle tale either. By you telling them it could possibly save the "wrong doers" dogs life.
A neighbor of my mothers had an "invisible fence" and the people beside him didn't know it. For months they just thought he had the best trained boston terriers ever. Then one neighbor did some planting and cut into a wire - everything seemed to work in his house so he continued on with life. Later the Boston Terriers got loose becasue their "fence" wasnt working. they ended up being fine but the moral of the story is soemthing bad could have heppend to the dogs.

For the life of me, I couldn't understand why anyone would even be motivated to move their wires so far in to adjoining properties, because that would allow their animals to be in somebody else's property and if those adjoining homes had any problems with the animals being there, it negates the reason to even install one. I Googled around about those underground fence systems, and found some manufacturers state the perimeter area has to be at least 500 feet, or they may not work properly. On a smaller city lot, I can see where some people who wish to use them don't have enough ground to do a proper installation.

OK, so that's probably why they trespassed their system so far in several directions. If they got permission, that's one thing. If they didn't, I wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw an anvil. What else would they do, to make life more convenient for themselves? There are wireless systems they could have used, but those are more expensive. So, they save a few bucks by using somebody else's property?

It's a danged shame when folk have to worry about what presumptive people like that think, or worry about feuds or retributions. You shouldn't have to pussy foot around and send anyone anonymous letters to inform anyone. If the folks who laid the line were forthright and honest, it wouldn't make a difference if you told the other property owners because they'd already know. It's called consideration in a social situation. Without permission it's also illegal.

Tell the neighbors because if I found out my neighbor did that I would sue my neighbor and dog fence company for trespassing to teach the sleaze a lesson not to dump crap on me. Hopefully then the neighbor will move. Without permission it's also illegal, so I would be rich and the neighbor poor. If I found an "invisible fence" in my yard I would dig it up and sue my neighbor. With proof wires and photos your neighbor could get lot many from both the neighbor and dog fence company.

You may be able to sue to make the neighbor move the fence, but the way I understand things, if you cannot prove that you have suffered any harm, you cannot sue for reparations. I believe that trespassing is an offense that might get someone a ticket, but the land may have to be clearly marked with "No Trespassing" signage before ticketing is an option. It really is not as easy to sue people as some folks think it is. When did the forest elves become so irritable?

when people started feeling entitled to bury their crap in her forest?

Criminal trespass is a serious charge, & the "accused" might settle for a certain amount of damages to make the charge go away.

Also, a wronged party can sue for such things as property damage, so I'd be looking at the most expensive landscaper in town.

I agree that no one has the right to put their fence on a neighbor's property. I just think that running to sue is a bit extreme.

"Yes the trespassers just cut into the lawn for the wire so it is not obvious."

It does not sound like any landscaping is needed to repair the damage that was done. Plus, the OP does not mention any "carp" being buried. So the forest is not damaged.

OP, I would consider talking to the neighbor who chose to have the fence put in the wrong place. If they are reasonable people who you have no reason to fear, I would tell them that I had been bothered about knowing how the fence was put on other peoples' properties. I would say that I felt an obligation to tell the homeowners what I know. I would say that I felt that by telling me this, the culprit put me in a difficult position and that I did not like it. I would ask the culprit to tell both neighbors about the fence themselves. Give them a week or two to do so, then tell the neighbors yourself. If putting the fence on their property means that the dog has its own yard to roam in, but the dog does not cross onto their property because the collar warns the dog and it does not cross the property line, then the neighbors may not mind that the line was buried on their land. If it means that the dog is in their yards, they may want the fence moved. They have a right to know about the fence, either way. That is how I would handle this.

You bury something on my property, it's "carp".