A man said, "Messenger of Allah, I slaughter a sheep and I feel mercy for it," or he said, "I feel mercy for the sheep when I slaughter it."The Prophet ﷺ replied, "If you show mercy to the sheep, Allah will show mercy to you. If you show mercy to the sheep, Allah will show mercy to you."
أن رجلا قال: يا رسول الله إني لأذبح الشاة وأنا أرحمها- أو قال: إني لأرحم الشاة أن أذبحها فقال: والشاة إن رحمتها رحمك الله، والشاة إن رحمتها رحمك الله.
Ahmad (15592), Bukhari in Adab al-Mufrad (373), Bazzar (3319), Tabarani in Kabir (23/19–24), and Hakim (4/231) all narrated it, all of them through Ismail bin Ibrahim, who is Ibn Ulaya, who said, "Ziyad bin Mikhraq narrated to us, from Muawiya bin Qurra, from his father," and he related it. Its isnad is sahih. Hakim said, "This is a hadith with a sahih isnad."