Animal smell a local possesses (7)
I believe the answer is:
inhuman
'animal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'smell a local possesses' is the wordplay.
'smell' becomes 'hum' (something with a bad smell is 'humming').
'local' becomes 'inn' (local can mean someone's local pub).
'possesses' indicates putting letters inside.
'hum'+'a'='huma'
'huma' put inside 'inn' is 'INHUMAN'.
(Other definitions for inhuman that I've seen before include "Callously cruel" , "Cruel, bestial" , "diabolical ..." , "Animal" , "Savage, brutal" .)