Chantilly Pet Store Agrees To Remove Sign, Stop Using Woofys Name

CHANTILLY, VA — A Chantilly pet store has agreed to stop using the name Woofys after an Ashburn pet services company with a similar name filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the pet store. The company, Woofys Chantilly, also has halted construction at its store site and has agreed not to open a pet store in the "foreseeable future" under any name in the Chantilly Crossing shopping center, Woofie's LLC said Thursday.

"They will permanently cease using the Woofys name," Woofie's said in a statement. The pet store also agreed that the Woofys storefront sign at the shopping center will be taken down by noon on Friday, according to Woofie's.

Given this new information, Woofie’s said it is canceling a protest against Woofys that it had planned with an animal welfare group for Saturday at the Chantilly Crossing shopping center. Woofie's also had started an online petition that had collected more than 9,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon to stop the opening of the Woofys pet store.

Woofie's filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court last Wednesday against Woofys, arguing the use of the Woofys name by the owner of the new store will cause "irreparable harm" to the company's reputation unless the court steps in.

In filing the trademark lawsuit against Woofys and Ayman Koshok who the lawsuit stated are behind the new store, Woofie's asked the court to block the usage of the name Woofys and award the company damages.

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Woofys had not responded to a request for comment at the time this article was published on whether it still plans to open a pet store at the Chantilly location.

Ayman Koshok and his brother Kareem Koshock, former managers of the Fairfax Petland Store, were charged with three counts of animal cruelty in September, stemming from an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States. An undercover video made by HSUS revealed that more than a dozen dead rabbits were found in shopping bags in a freezer at the pet store. The two are scheduled to go to trial on the three animal cruelty charges in early May.

Ayman Koshok said in an email to Patch last month that he is "innocent of any wrongdoing" in his role as a manager of the Petland in Fairfax City and is confident he "will be acquitted once the legal system is allowed to take its course."

"While this is a great victory, it is only the first of many more steps that need to be taken in order to prevent anyone who has been charged with or convicted of animal cruelty, from ever owning or operating a pet business," Woofie's said Thursday in its statement. "We are continuing to work with our local and state lawmakers to create new legislation that will help protect innocent animals and we will not stop until changes are made."

In January, the City of Fairfax enacted a new ordinance that requires pet shops in the city to obtain a permit before opening an operation to sell companion animals in the city. The ordinance, enacted due in large part to a Humane Society of United States undercover investigation of the Fairfax City Petland, made Fairfax the first Northern Virginia locality to join more than 300 other municipalities across the nation in tightening pet store regulations.

The Virginia General Assembly has declined to enact a state-wide ban on the selling of puppies and kittens in pet stores, similar to a ban enacted in Maryland, or to give local jurisdictions the authority to ban these types of pet stores.