Austin Flake and his ex-wife Logan Brown are alleging Arpaio maliciously targeted them with felony animal cruelty charges after 21 dogs boarding at a kennel operated by Flake’s in-laws died from heat exhaustion in 2014, per court documents obtained by the Associated Press.

The Flakes were caring for the canines while the in-laws were out of town, but the case against them was eventually dismissed at the request of prosecutors.

Instead, the owners of the kennel pleaded guilty to the offense after it was determined they did not properly maintain the air conditioning unit ventilating the dogs’ accommodations.