Albuquerque dog trainer ordered to pay $160K in penalties, restitution

The owner of a now-defunct dog training business has been ordered by a district judge to pay more than $160,000 in penalties and restitution to former clients, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office announced.

District Judge Benjamin Chavez ordered the penalties after Lisa Berry, owner of Duke City Dog Academy, failed to appear for a hearing Tuesday in a lawsuit alleging violations of state law by the business, the AG’s office said in a statement.

In a separate case, Berry pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to 15 misdemeanor counts for violating Albuquerque’s animal ordinances, including five counts of cruelty to animals, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court records show.

In that case, filed by the Albuquerque city attorney’s office, a judge ordered Berry to serve one year of supervised probation and to remove all animals from her property within 30 days. Messages left for Berry’s attorney in the criminal case, Maria Padilla, were not immediately returned on Friday.

Voice messages left for Berry at the Duke City Dog Academy were not returned Friday. A Facebook group page for Duke City Dog Academy says that the site was closed when the business was sold in 2020.

The state’s top attorney filed a lawsuit in February against Berry and Duke City Dog Academy alleging that Berry starved and abused dogs in her care and failed to provide promised services in violation of the state’s Unfair Practices Act.

The 2nd Judicial District Court lawsuit alleged that Berry charged dog owners between $2,000 to $8,000 to train their dogs but failed to provide the training. Instead, Berry returned the animals with signs of neglect, including sores, diseases and emaciation, the suit alleged.

A default judgment approved by the district court judge on Tuesday requires Berry to pay $46,512 in restitution to former clients and an additional $120,000 in penalties for violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, the statement said.

A day before the hearing, Berry filed a motion in District Court asking the judge to delay the hearing, which had been scheduled since Nov. 1.

“I am asking for a continuance to seek counsel and review the case,” the motion said. No attorney is listed for Berry in the civil court case.

“I was unaware of this court date and will be updating my address with the court,” Berry wrote. “I only found out about this upcoming court date from a news story that was sent to me by a friend.”

The AG’s office filed a motion for a default judgment in June seeking restitution on behalf of 11 dog owners who allegedly paid thousands of dollars for services they didn’t receive and received “sick, broken and abused dogs” back from Berry.

“Today is a great win for animal lovers and consumers in New Mexico,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in the written statement.