V-dog founder David Middlesworth, 75

David Middlesworth (Red Rover photo)

David Middlesworth, 75, died on July 29, 2014 while hiking in Glacier National Park, Montana. “Park officials said he suffered cardiac arrest and did not respond to CPR or a defibrillator. His wife, Linda said he had no heart problems and that he lost consciousness from a combination of low blood pressure and being at high altitude. No autopsy was done,” wrote Sacramento Bee reporter Robert D. Davilla.

David and Linda Middlesworth, his wife of 51 years, were ovo/lacto vegetarians who became vegan circa 1989 after reading Australian philosopher Peter Singer’s 1975 opus Animal Liberation, they often recalled. Linda Middlesworth, an aerobic exercise trainer, went on to form the 1,000-member Sacramento Vegan Society and a business called VeganMentor.

Beth & Merritt Clifton.
(Geoff Geiger photo)

David Middlesworth, a 30-year employee of the Xerox corporation, distributed a British-made brand of vegetarian dog food for a time after his retirement, then founded his own company, V-dog, in 2005, to produce plant-based kibble and biscuits. V-dog now manufactures product at facilities in Sacramento and Memphis, with six employees altogether and four warehouses, Linda Middlesworth told Davilla of the Bee.

“Besides serving as a board member and past chairman of Red Rover, a Sacramento-based animal protection group [formerly United Animal Nations], he was a strong supporter of Animal Place in Grass Valley, Farm Sanctuary in Orland, and Born Free USA,” and “an active member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,” Davilla recalled.