Neko Girls

Intro
As anyone who has look into Catsfern at all knows our national animal is the ever coveted Neko Girl, however there has been some concern from the international community over their treatment. I'll probably make a factbook about this later but this is a basic overview of the Neko Girl treatment in Catsfern

Citizenship status
To begin with Neko Girls are considered at least partly citizens they have the same rights to free speech, religion, ect as a regular Catsfernian, But some rights are restricted unless they have an "independent action permit" (that can also function as a driver licence).

"independent Action Permits" can be earned by the completion of a simple test covering basic mathematics, simple English skills, societal norms and basic ethics. Upon passing the test the Neko Girl is given the choice of either a card to carry on them or a specially engraved bell to wear as an accessory (this option is quite popular among younger Neko Girls). "Independent Action Permits" must be redeemed every 5 years.

If a Neko Girl does not have an "Independent Action Permit" some rights are restricted such as right to hold property and right to carry a weapon, however rights to things like free speech and religion are still held.

Neko Girls without "Independent Action Permits" are also legally required to have a supervisor being either a non Neko Catsfernian or a Neko Girl with a "Independent Action Permit" supervisors are required by law to assist the Neko Girl in obtaining a "Independent Action Permit"

Races
Neko Girl races are extremely popular in Catsfern and the racing Neko Girls often wear cloths that are either tight or thin as to increase aerodynamics. Due to this they often draw large crowds of male spectators and a notible amout of female ones as well. The Neko Girls racing are required to be 18 years of age, have Independent Action Permits or the written permission of their caretaker. Races often have high rewards for the top 10 places and a low consolation for the rest. Particularly skilled runners can also earn local or national fame due to the polarity of these races.

Demography
Neko girls make up approximately 15% of Catsferns female population. This figure has actually increased from prior years, in the last census taken Neko girls made up 13.5% of the population.

Origins
Neko Girls exist in Catsfern because of a single rouge bioengineer who's only known name is Tucker. Dr. Tucker research notes and records were recovered along with the first of the Neko Girls when his lab was raided by Catsfernian law enforcement.The exact process underwent to create the Neko Girls is unknown, but the finished product has since then integrated into Catsfern and continues to today.

Physiology / Psychology
The outward appearance of a Neko Girl is very similar to that of a standard human female, however three main physical differences separate humans from Neko Girls. The more outwardly noticeable ones are the presence of a long, hairy tail, and the replacement of standard human ears with that of a feline. Less noticeably is a variance in the structure of a Neko Girls vocal cords from that of a humans. This modified set of vocal cords allows the Neko Girl to both speak human languages normally, and to make noises akin to that of a feline (I.E.purring hissing,meowing, ect). Neko girls also posses a unique genetic quirk that scientists in Catsfern still can't fully explain. While able to breed with humans children born from these relations are either male with no neko features or are born female and with full neko features. One possible explanation of this that has become widely accepted is that the one balance of chromosomes provided by the Neko Girl mother and the human father are skewed in the mothers favor, so when breeding with humans the mother will at times provide full sets of chromosomes including a double X chromosome and all the traits that come physically with a Neko Girl. This has created a slight problem for Neko Girls though. Due to the imbalance of chromosomes intelligence levels of Neko Girls are inconsistent at best. It's this inconsistency in mental ability that lead to the "Independent Action Permit" program. Some Neko Girls pass first try at age 8, others pass after their third attempt that year at age 17, and some never pass try as they might.