Although I will agree by and large the big box pet shops typically have no clue what they are doing when it comes to husbandry and typically could care less for animal welfare (at the corporate level) there are employees like yourself who do the best they can with what they have.
I was in your shoes many years ago however the general manager of the store I was at did in fact care for all of the creatures there. He encouraged education and expected healthy animals. The customers of that shop were very loyal to it for that reason. Now if I told you the name of the store I am sure to get sneered out of here. Unfortunately the stigma is there to stay.
No matter where you go you will find people who have animals and do not care for them properly. Big box stores, mom and pop stores AND individual breeders. Unfortunately there are ignorant people who get into this hobby for the wrong reasons and those people are everywhere.
Based on my experience, I judge the facility based on the condition of the animals not my previous conceived notion of what kind of shop I am at. To be honest, if you can't at least do that you should probably do some more research before your purchase anyway.
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