Soissons court orders Curtis euthanised in Pilarski dog-attack case
The Soissons criminal court ordered the euthanasia of Curtis, the dog at the centre of the Elisa Pilarski case, after the fatal 2019 attack in the Forest of Retz in northern France. The court's decision closes one of the most watched French animal-liability cases of recent years: Pilarski, who was pregnant, died during a walk with Curtis while a hunt was taking place nearby. The judicial case turned on whether hunting hounds or Curtis caused the fatal injuries. Veterinary and genetic evidence presented in the case found Curtis responsible for the bites, while French administrative guidance says first-category attack dogs are subject to strict ownership rules. For Belgium Pulse readers, the case matters less as a French crime story than as a warning about cross-border dog ownership, bite training and public-safety enforcement: prior reporting and trial evidence linked Curtis to bite-work competitions outside France, including Belgium.
Belgian dog owners, trainers, families and municipalities should read this as a cross-border safety case rather than only a French courtroom story. The court's finding concerns an animal linked in the case record to international bite-work activity, including Belgium, while French state guidance shows how differently neighbouring countries can regulate powerful dogs. For Belgian residents who travel with dogs, buy animals across borders or use specialist training clubs, the practical lesson is that ownership paperwork, training history and control measures can become decisive after a serious incident.
Elisa Pilarski (29-year-old French woman who died in 2019 while pregnant) became the central victim in a long-running dog-attack case. Curtis (the dog owned by Pilarski's partner Christophe Ellul) was the animal examined by veterinary and DNA experts. Christophe Ellul (Pilarski's partner and Curtis's owner) was prosecuted over alleged negligence in leaving the dog with her. The Soissons criminal court (court in Aisne, northern France) handled the criminal proceedings. The Forest of Retz (large forest near Villers-Cotterêts in Aisne) was where the fatal attack occurred. Rallye La Passion (the hunting group whose hounds were initially blamed) was later challenged by expert findings. Service Public (French state public-information portal) explains the legal rules on categorised dogs. American Pit Bull Terrier (pit bull-type dog often covered by breed-specific restrictions) is central because French rules treat some pit bull-type dogs as first-category attack dogs.
Background
The fatal attack occurred on 16 November 2019, and the early public debate focused on a nearby hunt. By November 2020, expert and genetic findings had shifted the case toward Curtis, with Pilarski's genetic material identified on the dog and not on the hunting hounds. Christophe Ellul was later placed under formal investigation, and in August 2024 an investigating judge sent him to trial. The March 2026 proceedings revisited the same core question: whether the death resulted from an unforeseeable animal attack or from negligent ownership of a dog whose training and status should have raised obvious warnings.
Why now
The story is timely because the Soissons criminal court delivered its 11 June 2026 decision ordering Curtis euthanised, years after the 2019 death and after trial hearings revisited the forensic and ownership evidence.
What to watch
Watch whether Christophe Ellul or other parties pursue further legal steps, how quickly the euthanasia order is enforced, and whether French or Belgian animal-safety authorities respond with renewed checks on bite-work training and cross-border dog documentation.
Opposing perspectives
- Soissons prosecution and court
The prosecution frame, reflected in the trial record, treats the case as a preventable death caused by negligent control of a dog whose status, training history and behaviour created a foreseeable danger. The strongest version of this view is that the hunting-hound theory distracted from the owner's duty to understand and control Curtis.
- Christophe Ellul defence
The defence position, as described in trial coverage, argued that Curtis had not previously attacked Pilarski and that the circumstances in the forest left reasonable doubt about how the fatal sequence unfolded. Its strongest point is that the case depended on reconstructing a chaotic event no living witness directly observed.
- Animal-behaviour and public-health researchers
A 2017 Irish Veterinary Journal study found no clear difference in bite severity between legislated and non-legislated breeds in its sample. This frame does not excuse the facts of the Pilarski case, but it warns policymakers against treating breed labels alone as a complete public-safety tool.
Sources & evidence
- Le Soir - 'Un animal conditionne a l'attaque': le chien Curtis sera euthanasie apres avoir cause la mort d'Elisa Pilarsk · 2026-06-11
- Le Monde - In rural France, a grisly death and a lingering question: Which of the dogs killed her? · 2026-03-04
- Le Monde - Le compagnon d'Elisa Pilarski renvoye devant la justice · 2024-08-20
- Service Public - Avoir un chien de categorie: quelles sont les regles? · 2025-11-07
- Legifrance - Code rural et de la peche maritime, dispositions penales
- Creedon & O Suilleabhain, Dog bite injuries to humans and the use of breed-specific legislation, Irish Veterinary Journa · 2017-07-21
- Wikipedia - Death of Elisa Pilarski