City Council approves proposal to hold bull run

The Mesquite City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to approve a proposal to have a running of the bulls promotion down its main street July 11 as part of a three-day Western festival.

Phoenix-based Running of the Bulls America, Inc. hopes to enlist 1,000 runners who will pay $50 each to run down Mesquite's main street for nearly a third of a mile while being chased by a dozen range bulls.

The promotion will emulate the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a 400-year-old tradition that is usually bloody and sometimes deadly.

Promoter Phil Immordino says the bulls used in Mesquite will be docile range bulls and will not be agitated, as they are in Spain.

Council members Alice Fessenden and Lyle Hughes voted against the project, with Fessenden saying it would create image problems for the town of 10,000, located 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Mayor Ken Carter had previously expressed support for the project, providing Immordino could satisfy safety and insurance concerns.

While the bull run has the green light from the city, the Humane Society of the United States isn't happy with the idea.

"This ludicrous proposal and its originator should be run out of town," said Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president of the Humane Society. "It's dangerous for people, it's dangerous for animals and it has no redeeming value."

Immordino, though, said the animal rights organization does not understand his proposal.

"It's not anything like Spain," Immordino said. "There is no cruelty. They're simply going to run down the street.

At least 13 people have been killed in the runs in Pamplona since records were begun in 1924. The Pamplona event dates to 1591, when daredevils began running alongside when the animals were being driven through town to bullfights.

Immordino said all precautions will be taken to make the Mesquite event safe, including tamer bulls and no alcohol for the runners.

Immordino, whose company promotes bull-riding events around the country, tried to sell the bull run idea to Phoenix and Long Beach, Calif., before turning to Mesquite.

Long Beach backed out after animal rights groups protested, he said. In Phoenix, the issue was safety.

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