Musnad Ahmad 30:729

Hammad ibn Usamah narrated to us, Hisham narrated to us, from his father, from Abu Hurairah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "A woman was punished because of a cat; she confined it until it died of hunger. She did not feed it, nor did she release it so that it might eat from the vermin of the earth." And a man was forgiven because he removed a thorny branch from the road.