Several men who wre a part of an unrecognized fraternity at the College at Brockport in Brockport, New York, came under fire Thursday for allegedly tormenting a rat in a hazing activity, local police said. Criminal charges could be pressed against the nine men that were arrested, which includes six current students and three former students.

Campus police, Brockport Police Department officers and Monroe County Sheriff's deputies detained the men that refer to themselves as "The Delts," an unrecognized chapter of Delta Sigma Phi that lives in an off-campus house. Local law enforcement has monitored The Delts for years due to numerous complaints made against them by fellow students and other members of the community, according to Associated Press.

Charges weren't filed against the arrested men until two pledges came forward about the hazing activity. The rat was allegedly tormented as a way to caution new members of what will happen to them if they attempt to tell others of the hazing tactics or part ways with the fake organization.

"We believe there were acts that were causing injury to others," said the College at Brockport Police Chief Dan Vasile, according to ABC affiliate WHAM. "We're not waiting until we have a student death. We are being proactive; we're not going to tolerate this on our campus, our surrounding our campus."

The men apparently used a hammer to torment the rodent, in case. A fist was also said to have allegedly been used upon the small animal.

A search warrant was enacted Nov. 29 at the house, which is located within close proximity to the college. Members of the group face misdemeanor charges of hazing, assault, criminal nuisance and mishandling a child while under the influence of alcohol, according to reports.

The College of Brockport claimed to have removed the Zeta Psi Chapter of Delta Sigma Phi in 2001, which is why The Delts formed. School officials asserted to have done everything in its power to eliminate such "unrecognized activity" from the group.

"The college has done everything in its authority to prohibit the continued, unrecognized activity of this collection of individuals," a representative of the College of Brockport said in a statement to Associated Press. "We regularly educate and warn students and their parents of the dangers associated with such unrecognized groups and will continue to do so. We have zero tolerance for this group's behavior."

Hazing has long been associated with Greek life in American culture, but more than half of college students in the U.S. that participate in organizations, teams or clubs are affected by it. Fraternities and sororities, in particular, have faced scrutiny for its use of hazing because it has often resulted in injury or death. Timothy Piazza from Penn State and Maxwell Gruver from Lousiana State University, for example, died in 2017 from hazing-related rituals.

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