The competition to break scoops in the news biz can be ruff.
Just ask Ilona Linarte, an anchorwoman with Mir24 TV, a Russian television station.
Shortly after segueing into a report about Moscow housing renovation programs on-air last week, she was distracted by a disturbance on the set.
When the journalist turned briefly away from the camera, she was SHOCKED at what she saw.
A friendly black lab had wandered into the studio and the adorable pup wasn't shy about announcing his presence.
Both startled and bemused, Linarte quickly drops her professional facade: "I've got a dog here. What is this dog doing in the studio?" she asks a producer offscreen.
But it gets even funnier: Turning back to the camera, she confesses that "I actually prefer cats. Yeah, I'm a cat lady.", and consoles the furry interloper with head pets and a hug.
Because the internet loves an unexpected dog sighting, the episode quickly went viral on YouTube, where the clip has totaled more than 3.8 million views in less than a week. Give it a watch below!
In a follow-up piece, the station revealed "that the dog belong[ed] to a guest from a different segment, and he somehow got loose."
h/t The Dodo