Centuries-old traditional folk sports of Dakshina Kannada,
Kambala is a buffalo race held in slush-filled tracks between the months of November and March. Animal rights activists have opposed the sport saying that tying the noses of the buffaloes with a rope and using a whip amounts to cruelty.
"All buffaloes that run in Kambala are male. Once crucial to cultivation, they have no place in mechanized agriculture", with the Karnataka high court imposing a ban on the rural sport until the disposal of a PIL filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Kambala lovers contend that the sport, which resonates with the heartbeats of Kannadigas.
Later to pave the way for the sports, the state Cabinet on January 28, 2017 had decided to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, (Central Act 59 of 1960), enacted to prevent the infliction of unnecessary cruelty and suffering on animals.