Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe CHICAGO, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Organizers of the Great Bull Run said about 1,000 people have already signed up for a Spanish-inspired stampede with the bovine in the Chicago area next year. The Great Bull Run, which organizer Bradford Scudder created to bring the Pamplona, Spain, tradition to various U.S. locations, announced it will hold a July 12 event at the Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney next year, and about 1,000 people have already registered, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. Advertisement Participants in the event, and the preceding runs in Virginia and eight other U.S. cities, pay a $35 fee to run with the bulls and conclude with a rotten tomato fight. The event's website warns participants they "might be trampled, gored, rammed or tossed in the air by a bull." However, the organization said the bulls used in its events are less aggressive than the ones that run annually in Spain. The group said another key difference is the bulls at the U.S. events are not killed at the end of the run. However, some groups have criticized the Great Bull Run and asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate whether they are properly licensed. Advertisement "These events are a shameful example of cruelty for the sake of nothing more than entertainment and profit," said Ann Chynoweth, senior director of The Humane Society of the United States' End Animal Cruelty and Fighting campaign.
