Dickensian villain following small animals (5)
I believe the answer is:
sheep
'animals' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Woolly animals ' mean 'sheep' so perhaps 'animals' could also mean 'sheep')
'dickensian villain following small' is the wordplay.
'dickensian villain' becomes 'heep' (Uriah Heep, villain in Dickens' David Copperfield).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'heep' put after 's' is 'SHEEP'.
(Other definitions for sheep that I've seen before include "Ruminant animal" , "Farm animal" , "Members of congregation" , "Ewe" , "Gregarious animal(s)" .)