Pets is a plus, because they want to see that you have love for ANIMALS. Sometimes their decision is very biased. This year they accepted a kid who's 18 years old and 18 on DAT. Go figure.
Basically UNLV is like every other school. They look for good DAT, high GPA, commitment to dentistry, early applications, etc. I got in with an 18 and a 3.5!