DULUTH, Minn. (WCCO) – The animal rights group PETA is pressing for legal action after a number of animals at a Duluth zoo were killed amid flash flooding.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) issued a press release calling for “appropriate charges” in response to the deaths of several animals at Lake Superior Zoo earlier this week.

Zoo workers reported several barnyard animals — which included a donkey, sheep, and goats — were killed Wednesday morning.

The only barn animal from the zoo that survived was a mini-horse named Darla.

A number of other animals escaped their enclosures during the flooding, including Berlin the polar bear and Feisty and Vivian, a pair of seal sisters.

Some of those animals were relocated to the Como Zoo in St. Paul.

PETA argued that workers at the Lake Superior Zoo should have been aware of the danger their animals faced due to flooding from the nearby creek two years ago.

“The zoo failed to take necessary action to safeguard these animals’ lives, and those responsible must be criminally charged,” said Daphna Nachminovitch, vice president of cruelty investigations with PETA.

PETA says the zoo violated Minnesota’s cruelty-to-animals statute.

You can help families affected by the flooding by donating to the American Red Cross. The phone number is 1-800-RED-CROSS. Or text the word “REDCROSS” from your cell phone to 90999 to make a $10 donation that will go directly on your phone bill.