BLAND -- When firefighters responded to Ivan Schmucker Jr.'s farm at 4:40 a.m. March 21, it took them four hours to extinguish the blaze that killed nearly 200 dogs and puppies at the Schmucker family business, Dogwood Kennels.

It took nearly that long for Bland County officials to make their final decision on whether to allow the Schmuckers to rebuild.

At Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, 23 people spoke before the four supervisors began their discussion of issues related to granting a conditional use permit. An audience of about 75 people -- divided evenly between supporters and opponents -- listened intently to the discussion.

The final decision was unanimous. Supervisor Henry Blessing made a motion to accept the permit with some conditions added to the 14 already suggested by the county's planning commission.

Supervisor Jason Ramsey seconded the motion, telling the audience that "as far as the law goes, [Schmucker] has the right to have a kennel."

In his new operation, Schmucker will be required to have a sprinkler system as well as fire detection equipment. He has said he will use solar power to heat the new kennel.

The March fire -- believed to have been started by a kerosene heater the Schmuckers were using to warm a whelping facility for puppies they breed to sell -- called attention to a business previously unknown to most people in the county. The tragedy also drew in animal welfare advocates from around the country who labeled Dogwood Kennels a "puppy mill" and demanded that county officials look closely at the issues such facilities raise.

Although Dogwood Kennels is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a Class A dealer -- one of 14 in Virginia authorized to sell to pet stores -- opponents of mass dog breeding operations accused the facility of treating companion animals as livestock and using them solely to make a profit for their breeders.

The Schmuckers, a family of nine who are among the 200 Amish people living in communities in Bland and Giles counties, rallied supporters who attested to their concern for animals and their desire to earn a living according to the Amish tradition. They pointed out that Dogwood Kennels is regulated by the federal government.

Ivan Schmucker Jr., who had operated his kennel without the county's required conditional use permit because he wasn't informed of the requirement, found himself in the midst of controversy when he tried to rebuild. He applied for the permit.

The two sides faced off first at a public hearing on June 4 when the Bland County Planning Commission heard impassioned pleas from both. After considering concerns over the number of dogs being kept at Dogwood Kennels, safety matters and environmental issues related to waste disposal, the 12-member planning commission approved the Schmuckers' plans to rebuild by recommending a conditional use permit to the board of supervisors.

Commissioners recommended a comprehensive safety evacuation plan, installation of fire detection equipment, additional space beyond USDA requirements for caged dogs and access to the kennel for unannounced county inspections. Also on the list was a condition limiting the on-site number of adult dogs -- defined as 4 months or older -- to 250.

Those opposed to the recommendations scoffed at that number.

Marsha Perelman, who was appointed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell to the state's Dog Law Advisory Board in October after the governor fired the previous board, called it "worthless."

"Dogs come into heat two times a year," Perelman said. "If you consider an average of six dogs per litter, you're talking about thousands of dogs. There is no way those dogs can be raised well. They might as well have picked a million."

Perelman said Pennsylvania -- dubbed the "puppy mill capital of the East" because it has hundreds of kennels -- has proposed new state legislative changes to fix problems with its mass breeding operations, most of which are in and around Lancaster County. She cautioned Virginia to look carefully at the issue, saying that the kennel in Bland County is similar to the kennels under scrutiny in Pennsylvania.

"That's factory farming," she said of the Bland County recommendation.

At Tuesday's meeting, however, the board of supervisors agreed to allow Dogwood Kennels to keep the 250 figure.