Woman accused in Logan Ring's murder faces separate animal cruelty charges

In the months leading up to his death, 21-year-old Logan Ring was distributing information about his former roommate's alleged mistreatment of animals.

That former roommate is Tanisha Perrault — one of Ring's alleged killers.

Perrault, 19, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in Ring's death this October — nearly a year after the young father's body was discovered next to his vehicle at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park on Nov. 17, 2016.

Perrault is one of five people charged with Ring's murder. The others are: Rebecca Kuhlman, 25, another of Ring's former roommates; 38-year-old Jolene Epp and 49-year-old Colin Perrault, who are Tanisha's parents; and Todd Donaldson, 48.

Prior to Tanisha being investigated for Ring's murder, she was charged with animal cruelty under the Criminal Code and Saskatchewan's Animal Protection Act.

Court documents show the charges were laid on Sept. 22, 2016. They stem from a rural property near Tugaske, Sask., a tiny village roughly 80 kilometres northwest of Moose Jaw.

In 2016, Ring lived there with Tanisha and Kuhlman, according to his family and others who knew him.

By June of that year, Ring had stopped living there, according to his mother, Cindy McEwen.

None of the aforementioned charges have been proven in court.

The next time Tanisha is due to appear on the animal cruelty charges is Nov. 9, at which time she may enter a plea, according to the Crown prosecutor handling the case.

1 dead dog, 2 dead reptiles seized

The charges laid against Tanisha in September 2016 were the result of a three-month investigation by Saskatchewan's Animal Protection Services, after which 14 animals were seized.

"We've been aware of this particular individual for awhile. There's been a few different files," said Kaley Pugh, the service's executive director.

Pugh confirmed one horse, six goats, one dog and three cats were taken from a rural property. Two dead reptiles and one dead dog were also removed.

She said Animal Protection Services offers anonymity to people who report allegations of animal abuse. In the case of Tanisha, she would only say that a "concerned citizen" came forward.  

Ring comes forward with allegations of abuse

CBC News spoke to several people who say they took it upon themselves to document Tanisha's online buying and selling of animals and what they consider to be evidence of her mistreatment of animals.

Tara McKay, a dog groomer who resides in Swift Current, Sask., was among the group monitoring Perrault.

"We had noticed online that she was purchasing these animals and selling them again and flipping them, but there was a lot more to it," McKay recalled.

She knew both Kuhlman and Ring. McKay said Kuhlman introduced her to Ring, and described him as an acquaintance who would occasionally sell her marijuana.

She remembered Ring voicing serious allegations against Tanisha coming out of their time as roommates in Tugaske, like animal hoarding and starvation, and fighting between dogs.

CBC has obtained screenshots of social media posts in which Ring alleges that Tanisha abuses animals. In one instance, he wrote, "im the reason she is being charged for animal cruelty and neglect and had animals siezed."

Co-accused also part of campaign against Perrault

Ring wasn't the only one aiding a campaign against his former roommate.

Kuhlman, in conjunction with Ring, was spreading allegations about Tanisha's mistreatment of animals, according to documented online activity provided to CBC News. Kuhlman faces a second-degree murder charge in Ring's death.

"She starves her animals. Makes up false back stories about the animals. And flips animals," one message reads from her Facebook account to another user.

In another instance, one of Kuhlman's comments reads: "All the pics and info me and logan both have have been sent to the apss [Animal Protection Services Saskatchewan] we have called her in several times and sent locations and pics as soon as we had them."

'Born into the grave'

McKay, who has been contacted by police, said she was shaken to hear of Ring's death.

She said the last time she spoke to Ring was days before he was found dead.

As a hobby, she does tattoos and gave Ring his first one the week before he was killed.

"It was on his ribs and it said, 'Born into the grave.'

"He said it felt right."