The city's Food Bank is helping out some needy four-legged residents.

Plans for a pilot program to feed needy pets around the five boroughs were announced today.

It is part of an effort to keep people and their pets together during tough economic times.

The pilot program is being launched in partnership with animal welfare agency Bideawee, which is donating 6,000 pounds of dog food. The food will be distributed to nearly a dozen assistance groups in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

"Pets are such a part of our family that even people that may not have abandoned their pets are obviously using that money to purchase pet food for their pets and ultimately that's money that they're not spending on themselves for food," said David Grossnickle of the Food Bank of NYC. "So now they're able to spend that money on food for themselves, they're able to come to our pantries to pick up food, and now they can also pick up pet food as well."

The Food Bank hopes to expand the program to include cat food and more locations later this summer.