yup sparticus said it...
i personally always go the passive way first, by talking directly to the offending person before going over their head to their boss or whoever.
in this situation your either gonna get 1 of 2 reactions from them when you do mention your concerns about the animals, specifically that bp.
1) they could get defensive and ask you where & how you came about YOUR knowledge and basically hint at telling you that they know more simply because they are the one's running the pet store. in this case they will shut you down before you can even get your concerns across. OR...
2) they could appreciate your concern and might even ask for your advice on what they need to correct...but do keep in mind that all places of business, unless otherwise stated, are in the business of making a profit off whatever they sell whether it be products, animals, services, etc. so with this in mind, they're gonna hear what your saying as far as the corrections they need to make but their mind is gonna be going "how much is that gonna cost?"
i've actually been told by someone that they'd rather give the basic minimum in care knowing that someone will make a "pity purchase" instead of spend the whatever extra in upkeep costs that might be more then the actual cost of the animal.
in that case i was like "are you serious?! please dont tell me you have kids at home cuz if you handle your place of business like this, providing the bare minimum in care, do you do that with your kids as well? good god man, cheap isnt ALWAYS better."
so thats my take on the whole thing...the major point being express your concerns in as friendly a way as possible, even if the conditions in question make you wanna ring their necks.
you can start by saying "i noticed some things about this bp's set up that concerns me a little. do you have a minute to speak with me about it?"
that lets them know your concerned without coming across as an attack.
if they are willing to listen to your suggestions i'd first ask them where they got their knowledge of bp setup/care. listen to them carefully, without interrupting, and then go through your knowledge of bp setup and care and tell them where and how you got your knowledge and let them notice the differences. if they dont seem to "get it" and are insisting that their "source" is better or that they've been doing this for x amount of years, simply ask them an A, B or C scenario question, like
"would you rather sell a healthy animal and maintain a good flow of customers and a good reputation, take the chance of an animal possibly dying here and therefore end up with a loss of a potential profit, or have a sick animal die after being sold and end up with an angry customer who's demanding their money back and in that process you'll lose customers because your reputations gone down the crapper?"
if THAT doesnt wake them up then honestly...i'm all outta suggestions.
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