New London — Through seven years, four changes of command and countless shifts in crew members, one occupant of U.S. Coast Guard Station New London has remained, always offering a friendly greeting to those who walk inside.

Sandy, a yellow Labrador who just turned 9 last week, is the station's mascot, a nearly 24/7 presence who has been at the station longer than anyone currently posted there.

So when members of the Station New London crew learned earlier this week that it would cost $3,000 to repair Sandy's recently torn ACL, they were disappointed.

"That number was a very large number at the moment," Boatswain's Mate Third Class Maxwell Rozier said.

Sandy, whom Rozier said has barked "at everybody that comes walking past Fort Trumbull," injured herself Monday.

"We were all out back," Rozier said, setting up the scene. "She went running, chasing after something — a cat, a skunk, I don't know — and came back limping. We're guessing that she didn't stretch before she ran."

When Sandy's limp didn't go away, they took her to a veterinarian and learned of her torn ACL.

Aware of the legal limitations surrounding who they would be able to solicit for money, Rozier and his colleagues consulted higher-ups to see what was allowable.

The crew, those higher-ups said, could start a GoFundMe campaign as long as it was on their own behalf and as long as only current and former Coast Guard members and their families contributed.

In less than 48 hours, Rozier said, they'd raised all the money they needed.

"It's been absolutely incredible," he said, explaining that current and former Coast Guard individuals and families from across the country — including some who haven't been in New London for years — donated. "We had no idea we were going to get the amount of support that we did."

The Coast Guard doesn't own Sandy, Rozier explained. Those stationed in New London share ownership of her, sometimes taking her out for weekend camping trips and barbecues.

"She's become as much a part of us as anything else we do," he said.

Rozier said Sandy, also known as Sandra, Sandshark, Sandstorm and Sandpit, is a second class petty officer.

"She got demoted last year after she ate a sandwich off of a desk," he joked. 

Station New London crew members plan to set up the appointment for Sandy's surgery next week.

"To think about how small of a family the Coast Guard is anyway — there's so few of us," Rozier said. "Everybody just wanted to help. Think if this was one of our actual members; who knows what kind of support there would be? That really means a lot to all of us."

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle