Duane K. Piper - CountyLine Magazine

In addition to teaching freshman Biology atWesleyan, Dr. G raises alpacas on his farm inDahlonega, where he has lived for the past 10years. Currently, he has 15 alpacas that he israising, competing in shows and selling. Dr. Gsays that alpacas are much easier to raise andtake care of than the standard farm animalssuch as cattle and horses. However, alpacasaren’t the only animals that can be found onDr. G’s farm. Four dogs, a cat, twelve chickens,two cows and three horses also reside on theGholston farm. Dr. G is especially fond of oneof his dogs, his “bulldog” Mack, who has the appearanceof a boxer, but Dr. G is certain that heis a bulldog. Many of his students try to arguewith him about the breed of his dog, but Dr. G isdetermined that Mack is a bulldog. Dr. G savedMack from being euthanized. Dr. G exclaims, “Ihave saved Mack’s life two or three times, buthe has saved my life in so many more ways thanthat.” Mack has saved Dr. G multiple times fromwild animals like black bears on hunting trips.Dr. G describes his favorite dog as “fearless.”Even as a retired veterinarian, Dr. G is stillperforming surgery. One of the horses on Dr.G’s farm has been his latest project. A horseowner from Louisiana brought Dr. G a pony thatwas the victim of an automobile accident. Thehorse came to Dr. G in terrible condition; onethat most vets would agree was horrific enoughfor the animal to be euthanized. However, Dr.G thought otherwise. After reading up on stemcell repair, Dr. G decided to test it on the pony.He implanted various stem cell materials thathe believed would be absorbed into the horse’sbone marrow and repair the muscle tissue andskin tissue that were damaged in the accident.Dr. G had been treating the pony for six weeks,when about ninety eight percent of the injurieswere healed. Dr. G and his wife of 38 years,Kathy, just welcomed a granddaughter to theirfamily in August, and he plans to teach her toride this pony that he has saved.Dr. G’s love for science and animals is whatdrives him to do research and learn more abouthow to help make the world a better place byshowing kids that learning what they may notthink they find interesting may help them makesomething better in the future.23 CountyLine | September 2013