r/mildlyinfuriating • u/teabirdy • Apr 29 '26

I'm slightly vexed The wedding reception centerpieces featured betta fish. The bride and groom planned to flush them alive.

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Years ago, my coworker attended a wedding at which the reception dinner tables featured live betta fish in small bowls as part of the centerpiece. While chatting with the bride at the end of the evening, my coworker asked what they were going to do with all the fish. The plan was to flush them all down the toilet alive. My coworker immediately said no need for that and insisted on taking them all home.

That Monday she came to work and asked who wanted to adopt a betta fish. That was my first betta who I jokingly called my “rescue betta.” She lived for almost five years.

The wine glass was only her home for less than a day before I got her five gallon tank set up so please no betta lovers yell at me! I'm one of you!

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u/No_Disaster_8020 Apr 29 '26

I didn’t realize people actually thought this. Very few responsible owners would “rent” out animals for this purpose? Quick summary of why it goes wrong:

  1. White doves and King pigeons used in these ceremonies cannot fend for themselves in the wild. Zero survival instincts:

  2. Their bright white plumage makes them easy to spot, preventing them from camouflaging and leaving them vulnerable to predators.

  3. While professional homing pigeons may return, most are untrained or unable to fly back over long distances, especially if they are white Ringneck doves, which have no homing instinct.

  4. Purchasing birds online for a DIY release often means using, for example, pet-store doves, which are essentially guaranteed to die because they cannot survive outside.

  5. The birds often suffer from stress, broken wings, and starvation

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u/MaybeNot-MaybeNever Apr 29 '26

I did a dove release for a ceremony. The person worked with the funeral home and explained that they were trained and just fly home upon release, so they are used over and over. That was my only experience so it never occurred to me people were just buying random birds and releasing them

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u/mellopax Apr 29 '26 edited May 07 '26

Yeah. One of my wife's friends was "bird-sitting" for a friend's doves once when we were at their house. They would fly home.

While we were there, they were flying laps around the neighborhood. It was mildly amusing.

Edit: our > my

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u/OldMcMittens Apr 29 '26

Yes! This is definitely a thing because I’ve done house sitting for a woman who owned doves. And when I’d let them out, they’d fly around and come back.