A man held a Melbourne animal shelter worker at gunpoint on Monday demanding to know "where the cats were".
The gunman approached the worker, a woman, about 10:20pm (local time) at an animal shelter in the suburb of Cranbourne West. He pointed a gun at the victim before walking her into the shelter and tying her up, Sgt Julie-Anne Newman said.
After tying her up, the gunman asked the victim "where the cats were" before fleeing the scene.
"The woman, who wasn't physically injured, was able to free herself and raised the alarm," Newman said in a statement.
"Police conducted a search of the property but were not able to locate the man who was dressed in military-style clothes and was wearing a mask."
She said the search for the offender is continuing.
