HALIFAX - An animal rights activist says a European court ruling has put another nail in the coffin of Canada's commercial seal hunt.
The European General Court rejected yesterday a bid by Canada's largest Inuit organization to challenge the European Union's year-old trade ban on seal products.
The court in Luxembourg dismissed the group's case, saying the challenge from the Inuit, several seal hunters and industry organizations was inadmissible.
Rebecca Aldworth of the Canadian wing of the Humane Society International says the ruling means seals in Canada and elsewhere will be spared a horrible fate.
Aldworth says it's time for Canada to realize that the writing is on the wall for the annual seat hunt.
Even though the E-U ban exempts the trade in seal products from aboriginal groups, the Inuit claim their markets will be hurt along with the rest of the commercial industry unless the ban is overturned.
A spokesman for the Inuit group says it will comment on the ruling at a later date.
