Expecting to walk dogs and clean cages, Tim Maddock left Los Angeles to volunteer with animal rescue services in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharris’ play makes clear, Maddock was in for more — much more, like wading through muck and climbing into collapsing buildings to rescue pets left behind by their owners. Though the play never underestimates the human toll of the disaster, it does give a raw, moving, emotional voice to the nonhuman victims of Katrina. When not rescuing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and snakes, Maddock helps reunite animals with distraught owners who seek solace in reclaiming pets after having lost everything else. And as with FEMA, the bureaucracy of the animal-rescue unit leaves something to be desired. Some of the volunteers are “crazy animal people” so angry that people have left pets behind that they claim them as their own. (Maddock reports spending considerable time tracking down a Chihuahua dognapped by a volunteer.) The Katrina victims, the volunteers and even some of the animals are given voice by a first-rate ensemble: Tisha Terrasini Banker, Rufus Bonds Jr., Lanai Chapman, LeShay Tomlinson and Colin Walker. Much of the dialogue is darkly humorous, and Emilie Beck’s assured direction helps make it crackle. Act 2 could use some judicious editing, but that’s a quibble in an otherwise superior production. WEIRDSMOBILE PRODUCTIONS at the LOUNGE THEATRE, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; thru Sept.... More >>>