Be critical of the woman cuddling pet (6)
I believe the answer is:
scathe
'be critical of' is the definition.
(as in a scathing review)
'woman cuddling pet' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'she'.
'cuddling' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are cuddled or held).
'pet' becomes 'cat' (cats are often kept as pets).
'she' going around 'cat' is 'SCATHE'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for scathe that I've seen before include "Harm, injure" , "To scorn" , "Carpet" .)