It is Sunnah to make the animal face the qiblah at the time of slaughter

The Sunnah with regard to
slaughter is to make the animal face towards the qiblah, but that is not
obligatory. If he slaughters it facing any other direction, his slaughter is
halaal, but he has omitted a Sunnah. 

Ahmad (15022), Abu Dawood
(2785) and Ibn Maajah (3121) narrated that Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allah
be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) sacrificed two rams on the day of Eid. When he turned
them to face towards the qiblah he said: “Verily, I have turned my face
towards Him Who has created the heavens and the earth Haneefa (Islamic
Monotheism, i.e. worshipping none but Allaah Alone), and I am not of
Al-Mushrikoon .Verily, my Salaah (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my
dying are for Allaah, the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that
exists). He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the
first of the Muslims’ [cf. al-An’aam 6:79, 162-163]. O Allaah, from You and
to You, on behalf of Muhammad and his ummah. In the name of Allah and Allah
is most great.” Then he slaughtered them. 

The isnaad of this hadeeth
may reach the level of hasan as Shu’ayb al-Arna’oot said in Tahqeeq al-Musnad. 

It says in al-Mawsoo’ah
al-Fiqhiyyah (21/196), explaining the etiquette of slaughtering:

The slaughterer should face
towards the qiblah and the animal’s neck should be turned to face the
qiblah, because Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) disliked eating
the meat of any animal that had been slaughtered facing any direction other
than the qiblah, and no one among the Sahaabah disagreed with him. That is
narrated in some reports from Ibn Sireen and Jaabir ibn Zayd. End quote. 

See: al-Mughni,
3/221 

It says in Fataawa
al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (22/477) concerning one who slaughters an animal
facing a direction other than the qiblah and claims that making it face the
qiblah applies only when slaughtering the hadiy: 

If the situation with
regard to slaughter is as you say, then the slaughter is sound and valid in
terms of it being halaal, but the slaughterer is going against the Sunnah by
not turning to face the qiblah with the animal at the time of slaughter, and
he is doing wrong by not accepting the advice, and he is mistaken in his
claim that making it face the qiblah applies only when slaughtering the
hadiy, because the Sunnah is to turn towards the qiblah with the animal at
the time of slaughter in all cases, whether it is a hadiy or a sacrifice or
otherwise. End quote. 

It also says (1/67): It is
mustahabb for the slaughterer to face towards the qiblah  and to make the
animal also face towards the qiblah, because it is the noblest of
directions, and because turning to face the qiblah is mustahabb in acts of
worship, except in cases where there is evidence to indicate otherwise. The
fact that this is mustahabb is particularly emphasized if it is a hadiy or
udhiyah. It is narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: “Offer your
sacrifices and be of good cheer, for there is no Muslim who turns his
sacrifice to face the qiblah but its blood and dung and wool will be
hasanaat that are present on his scales on the Day of Resurrection.” And he
used to say: “Spend a little, you will be rewarded a great deal.” This
hadeeth was narrated by ‘Abd al-Razzaaq in al-Musannaf, and
al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Maajah and al-Bayhaqi narrated something similar. Although
the imams of hadeeth suggested that its isnaad is weak, it may be acted upon
with regard to encouraging good deeds. Hence Ibn ‘Umar and Ibn Sireen
regarded it as makrooh to eat meat that was not facing the qiblah at the
time of slaughter. Limiting oneself to saying Bismillaah and letting the
animal face any direction at the time of slaughter is forsaking that which
is better, but the slaughter is still valid. This was the view of al-Qaasim
ibn Muhammad, al-Nakha’i, al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mundhir and others. End quote. 

And Allaah knows best.