In the end, Orwell's animals were inadequate (7)
I believe the answer is:
unequal
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'in the end orwell's animals were' is the first definition.
(reference to George Orwell's Animal Farm)
'inadequate' is the second definition.
(eg unequal to a task)
(Other definitions for unequal that I've seen before include "Asymmetrical" , "More or less" , "Biased" , "Not well matched or even" , "Odd" .)