Cattle perhaps caught by the ears, heartlessly (4)
I believe the answer is:
herd
'cattle perhaps' is the definition.
(herd of cattle)
'caught by the ears heartlessly' is the wordplay.
'caught by the ears' becomes 'heard' (heard with the ears).
'heartlessly' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'heard' with its middle removed is 'HERD'.
(Other definitions for herd that I've seen before include "Drove" , "Flock" , "13 Down group" , "Group of, eg, cows" , "Group of animals, cattle, say" .)