French man is convicted of involuntary manslaughter after his illegally imported Pit Bull dog mauled pregnant girlfriend to death

By TARYN KAUR PEDLER, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:35, 11 June 2026 | Updated: 22:43, 11 June 2026 A French man has been convicted after his illegally imported pit bull dog killed his six-month pregnant girlfriend. Christophe Ellul, 51, received a suspended four-year sentence after DNA tests showed his dog, Curtis, was responsible for the 2019 attack that killed Elisa Pilarski. A French court on Thursday convicted Ellul of involuntary manslaughter after the pit bull he had illegally imported and trained to bite mauled pregnant Pilarski to death. In November 2019, Ellul found his girlfriend dead just below a hiking trail in the Retz forest near the northern town of Villers-Cotterêts, her body covered with around 40 bites. There were around ten bites on her neck, nine on her left arm and 19 on her right arm. Her scalp and right thigh were missing, according to local media. The 29-year-old woman, who was tragically six months pregnant with a boy at the time, had been walking their two-year-old dog, an American Pit Bull Terrier named Curtis. Just minutes before she died, Pilarski had called her partner at work at an airport outside Paris, some 50km away, to say she had been bitten and could not control the dog, investigations revealed.    The court in the northern town of Soissons handed Ellul a suspended four-year sentence and ordered the dog put down following the fatal incident. Christophe Ellul, 51, received a suspended four-year sentence after DNA tests showed his dog, Curtis, was responsible for the 2019 attack that killed Elisa Pilarski The 29-year-old Pilarski, who was tragically six months pregnant at the time, had been walking their two-year-old dog, an American pit bull terrier named Curtis Ellul argued that Curtis, which had been brought from the Netherlands, was not aggressive.  He also attempted to blame the dogs that had been involved in a deer hunt in the forest for his girlfriend's death. However, DNA tests revealed that the pit bull had carried out the deadly attack.  Sixty-two hunting hounds and the couple's other five dogs were also tested to exclude their involvement.  Curtis, now aged eight-and-a-half, has spent over six years locked up in a kennel in southwestern France since the incident. In March, the presiding judge said Curtis now lives 'in a four-square-meter enclosure, fenced to prevent escape, with access to a sunny six-square-meter yard.'  A 'plastic bone' is provided for him. His general condition is 'satisfactory,' his 'coat is shiny,' he has 'gained weight' and 'shows no signs of physical or mental suffering,' according to the report. Animal activists have called for his pardon, including a petition on Change.org, which has received more than 80,000 signatures urging Curtis to be transferred to an animal shelter.  It is illegal in France to import pit bulls, which have been classified as dangerous.  It comes just a month after a Florida woman was dragged to her death by two pit bulls while her partner desperately attempted to save her life. Jodi Cowan, 50, was attacked in her neighbourhood in May while walking her small dog. Her partner, Donnell Smith, told local media that he had heard a faint cry for help and saw a silhouette of two dogs dragging Cowan down the road. He fled to her aid and found her lying in a pool of blood with bites on her body.  The dogs then came back and tried to drag her. 'I pulled my knife out, you know, just swinging with it one hand and holding the blood with the other, trying to stop her from bleeding,' Smith told WESH. He called 911, and Cowan was airlifted to a local hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries. 'It was brutal. Seeing the same woman I've loved for the last 25-30 years just ripped apart by two animals was just... I'll never get that image out of my mind,' Smith recalled. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.