Firm, yes, about to return the animals (7)
I believe the answer is:
coyotes
'the animals' is the definition.
The answer is an example.
'firm yes about to return' is the wordplay.
'firm' becomes 'co' (a firm is a company).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'return' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'to' in reverse letter order is 'ot'.
'yes' placed around 'ot' is 'yotes'.
'co'+'yotes'='COYOTES'
(Other definitions for coyotes that I've seen before include "American prairie dogs" , "Prairie wolves" , "North American predators" .)