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'Bye-bye, Cupid': Boy adorably cries over having to flush his pet fish

It's always tough saying goodbye to that first pet fish.
/ Source: TODAY

Saying goodbye to that first pet can be a tough moment in any kid's life.

For Pierce Griffin, 5, of Augusta, Georgia, having to flush his beloved blue betta fish named Cupid meant an emotional send-off that he just wasn't ready for.

Pierce's mom, Dee Griffin, captured the scene in an adorable video in which Pierce is told they have to flush his dead fish down the toilet.

"Thank you God for the fish, but I don't want to!" he says tearfully while trying to block the toilet.

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"I always say that Pierce has to be a strong boy, and you can't baby him,'' Griffin told TODAY. "I know it was traumatic, but we play off each other and it's been like that since day one. He's hilarious and I love sharing those moments with the world."

Pierce, who is the family's only child, got Cupid as a present on Christmas.

"He would talk to it, and he looked forward to feeding Cupid every Friday,'' Griffin said. "He was a little heavy-handed with the food this past Friday and Cupid overate."

Griffin found the dead fish floating a day later. She panicked because the local PetSmart store where she bought Cupid didn't have many blue betta fish, so she figured it would be hard to find a replacement.

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She asked her mother what to do, and she said that Pierce had to be told. After finding out about Cupid, the boy blocked the entrance to the bathroom before eventually allowing his mother to enter.

"I just want to flush him by myself,'' Pierce says through tears. "Bye, bye Cupid."

Griffin was reminded of a famous episode of "The Cosby Show" in 1984 where Rudy deals with the death of her pet goldfish, Lamont. The day Pierce flushed Cupid also happened to be the two-year anniversary of the death of Griffin's father.

"It brought much-needed humor to a sad day,'' Griffin said.

As for Pierce, he has moved on since saying goodbye to Cupid.

"He was fine 10 minutes later,'' Griffin said. "He came to me and said, 'Oh, I have a name for my next fish.'''

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