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Seattle artist Paul Castle, guide dog Mr. Maple kicked out of restaurant when worker didn’t believe he was blind

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Seattle artist Paul Castle, guide dog Mr. Maple kicked out of restaurant when worker didn’t believe he was blind


A blind Seattle artist and his guide dog were kicked out of a Seattle restaurant when one of the workers accused the customer of faking his blindness.

Paul Castle, who is legally blind, claimed he entered the unnamed eatery with his service dog, Mr. Maple, but was instantly met by the wary worker.

“I walked in with my guide dog, Mr. Maple, and immediately somebody rushed up to me and said ‘no pets allowed, only service dogs,’” Castle said in a TikTok post on May 7.

“I said ‘It’s ok, he’s a service dog.’” the author said. “He looked at me, he looked at Maple, he said ’emotional support dog?’”

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Paul Castle claims he and his service dog, Mr. Maple, were kicked out of a Seattle restaurant earlier this month, when a worker didn’t believe he was blind. KING5

According to WAFB, Castle has less than 10 percent of his vision.

He insisted that Mr. Maple was a “guide dog for the blind” before showing off the pooch’s designated harness to the worker.

Castle told the employee he was blind, but the man wasn’t buying the artist’s story.

“‘You don’t look blind,” the man stated before Castle explained that “a lot of people in the blind community still have some functional vision.”

“You’re looking right at me,” “Yes but it’s like I have a pinhole of vision, it is all I can see.”

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Castle tried to prove his dog was a service animal by showing off the harness Mr. Maple was wearing. @matthewandpaul /TMX / SWNS
Castle told his story to the “Matthew and Paul” TikTok account, which he shares with his husband. @matthewandpaul /TMX / SWNS

Castle described his vision as “sort of like looking through a straw. I have no peripheral vision, the rest of my visual field is full of static.”

“Listen, this isn’t my first rodeo,” the man reportedly said.

Castle offered to return to the establishment with Mr. Maple’s paperwork, but the employee threatened to call the police if they stepped “foot back in this restaurant.”

Castle and his husband Matthew run the “Matthew and Paul” TikTok account, which has garnered over 2.1 million followers, and was created to give viewers an inside look at the lives of blind people while also spreading awareness about blindness.

“I was speechless, I was shaking,” Castle told the outlet. “I was really upset and disappointed.”

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Castle described his vision as “sort of like looking through a straw. I have no peripheral vision, the rest of my visual field is full of static.” KING5

“When I encounter a situation like this where I’m fully rejected not only for my dog, but because my own disability wasn’t believed, it makes me really sad on top of all the struggles that I already kind of deal with,” Castle said.

Federal law prohibits private businesses that provide goods or services from discriminating against individuals with disabilities including those that need service animals.

The goal of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to goods and services.

The law also disallows businesses from asking for documentation, and animals do not have to wear a vest or harness that indicates they are trained for a specific service.

According to the ADA, To help separate service animals from pets, a business may ask two questions when a person with an animal enters a place of public accommodation:

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  1. Is the animal required because of a disability?
  2. What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
Castle, who is not taking any legal action, didn’t name the restaurant where he was thrown out, because he doesn’t want them to face backlash. Paul Castle

Castle, who is not taking any legal action, didn’t name the restaurant where he was thrown out, because he doesn’t want them to face backlash.

He says he shared his experience for educational purposes and, after his video went viral, reached out to the restaurant where he talked to the manager who was sincerely apologetic and promised to better train the employees.





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Seattle, WA

Need to shred? Free drive-up/ride-up shredding Wednesday at Village Green West Seattle

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Need to shred? Free drive-up/ride-up shredding Wednesday at Village Green West Seattle


With the tax deadline just past, you might have old paper documents you’re ready to shred and recycle. Just announced – a chance to do that for free this Wednesday (April 22), 1-4 pm!

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Got sensitive documents piling up at home? We’ve got you covered! Join us for a FREE community shredding event with Liberty Shredding at Village Green West Seattle!

Secure, on‑site shredding

FREE (up to 3 boxes per person)

Just drive up and shred with confidence! Hearthside Driveway (building two)

Village Green West Seattle (WSB sponsor) is at 2615 SW Barton.





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WEST SEATTLE WEATHER: Warm day, but far below record

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WEST SEATTLE WEATHER: Warm day, but far below record


Thanks to Carrie Brown for the westward view of our Saturday night sunset. The high today hit 68 at the airport – eight degrees above normal – but nowhere near the record for this date, which was 89 degrees back in 2016. The forecast suggests two more days of partly sunny, almost-70-degree weather, before the chance of rain returns.

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Mets place former Seattle Mariners 2B/DH Jorge Polanco on IL

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Mets place former Seattle Mariners 2B/DH Jorge Polanco on IL


CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.

Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more

The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.

“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.

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“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”

Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.

“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”

Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.

Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.

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But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.

Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.

Mariners RHP Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment




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