Sen. Jeff Flake's son lost a civil lawsuit on Thursday against former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in which he claimed Arpaio maliciously prosecuted him and his then-wife over the heat-related deaths of 21 dogs in their care.

An Arizona jury refused to award damages to Austin Flake and ex-wife Logan Brown over Arpaio's criminal investigation into the demise of the animals in 2014 at a kennel operated by Flake's in-laws, according to the Associated Press.

The couple alleged that Arpaio brought the case against them to generate publicity for himself and to politically damage the Republican Senator from Arizona.

The retiring junior senator and Arpaio, a fellow Republican, reportedly clashed over immigration policy and its enforcement, as well as the movement that questioned the legitimacy of former President Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Arpaio's probe into the pair, who were looking after the canines while Brown's parents were out of town, was later dismissed at the request of prosecutors.

The owners of the kennel eventually pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges after an expert determined that the facility's air conditioning system failed because it wasn't properly maintained.

The prosecutor who handled the original criminal matter said she had not been pressured by Arpaio's office to file charges.

The federal judge presiding over the civil suit said he would not enter a final judgment until lawyers for Arpaio and Maricopa County explained why they had been unable to provide some documents pertinent to the case.