A French court sentenced Christophe Ellul to a suspended four-year term for the 2019 killing of his pregnant girlfriend by his illegally imported pit bull, Curtis. DNA evidence confirmed the dog's responsibility despite Ellul's claims, leading to a euthanasia order for the animal and sparking activist outcry.
A French court has convicted Christophe Ellul, 51, for the involuntary manslaughter of his six-month pregnant girlfriend, Elisa Pilarski, following a fatal dog attack in 2019.
Ellul received a suspended four-year sentence after DNA evidence confirmed his illegally imported American Pit Bull Terrier, Curtis, was responsible for the mauling. The tragic incident occurred in the Retz forest near Villers-Cotterêts, where Pilarski, 29, was found dead with approximately 40 bite wounds, including severe injuries to her neck and arms. Her scalp and right thigh were missing. At the time of her death, Pilarski was pregnant with a baby boy.
Investigations revealed that moments before the attack, she had called Ellul, who was working at an airport near Paris, reporting she was bitten and could not control the dog. The court in Soissons also ordered Curtis to be euthanized. Ellul had claimed the dog was not aggressive and attempted to blame hunting hounds present in the area, but DNA testing of 62 hunting dogs and the couple's five other dogs excluded them, pinning the attack solely on Curtis.
Since the incident, Curtis has been confined to a kennel in southwestern France. A recent report described his living conditions as a four-square-meter enclosed yard with access to a sunny six-square-meter space, noting his satisfactory physical and mental state. Animal activists have launched a petition demanding Curtis be transferred to a shelter instead of euthanized, gathering over 80,000 signatures. In France, importing pit bulls is illegal due to their classification as dangerous breeds.
The case echoes a similar tragedy in Florida where a woman was dragged to death by two pit bulls while walking her small dog. Jodi Cowan, 50, was attacked in May; her partner, Donnell Smith, attempted to intervene but was unable to prevent her fatal injuries
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