Dr. Nathan Starke has performed hundreds of surgeries in his career as a urologist. But one of his most memorable operations was an unexpected, high-risk procedure, not in a hospital, but at a local animal shelter.

Once a week since 2024, Dr. Starke has dedicated his free time to volunteering at Special Pals, a Houston-area animal shelter. It’s a far cry from the sterile precision of his usual surgical environment, but for Starke, it’s become an essential part of his weekly routine.

“I volunteer in the surgery area, where they mostly do spaying and neutering,” Dr. Starke explains. It’s a natural fit for a urologist, but there are some key differences between operating on humans and on animals. Perhaps the biggest being that patients would never come home with their surgeon. But that’s what happened when Dr. Starke walked into Special Pals.

When Surgery Saved a Life

The story starts on Starke’s first day volunteering at Special Pals. The veterinarian came looking for him with an urgent request. A dog had come in with a diaphragmatic hernia, a life-threatening condition where the intestines push up through the diaphragm, collapsing the lung and making it nearly impossible to breathe.

The dog was dying, and the shelter was preparing to euthanize her.

“The vet came and found me and was like, ‘I heard you were a surgeon. We have this dog with this terrible problem,'” Dr. Starke recalls. “They were going to put the dog down. But I had fixed a few diaphragmatic hernias  in people before, and I was happy to help.”

Drawing on his experience with similar procedures in human patients, Dr. Starke supported the veterinarian through the complex surgery. In consultation with the veterinary surgeon, he provided guidance on repositioning the intestines, repairing the diaphragm, and reexpanding the collapsed lung; the surgical team gave the struggling dog a fighting chance.

The next day, Dr. Starke returned to check on his patient. The dog had survived.

From Patient to Family

What happened next surprised even him. The shelter staff asked if he would foster the recovering dog while she regained her strength. He agreed—and then something shifted.

“I fostered her, feeding her by hand and giving antibiotics and pain medicine twice a day. As I watched her regain strength and confidence, I saw her wonderful sweet personality emerge. And at a certain point, I fell in love, knew I could never give her back, and so I  adopted her,” Dr. Starke says simply. Today, that dog, who he named Chicken, sleeps peacefully in his home, a living reminder of the unexpected ways life can change in a single moment.

The story doesn’t end there. Dr. Starke was so moved by his first-day experience that he’s made Special Pals a permanent part of his life. The veterinarian, now a good friend, always lets him know whenever there’s a particularly challenging surgery on the schedule.

“Whenever there are big surgeries, she calls me to see if I’m available to volunteer that day,” he explains. “Just like in human surgery, it’s often very helpful to have another person to discuss difficult cases with.” Just last week, they performed another complex procedure together. 

Finding Balance Beyond Medicine

The demands of clinical practice, the administrative burden take a toll after years of practice. Dr. Starke has been open about his own journey with finding meaning outside the hospital walls.

His volunteer work at Special Pals represents more than just being in an operating room setting—it’s a source of renewal and purpose that complements his medical career. Dr. Starke has found a space where his surgical skill matters in a different way. There are no insurance companies, no bureaucratic hurdles, just the straightforward act of helping others.

Every week, Dr. Starke returns to Special Pals. And every week, he brings a little bit of the operating room’s precision to animals who need it most. In turn, bring something back to him that no hospital can provide.