First, most working breeds make poor house pets in general. And pets-as-surprise-gifts are a terrible idea. But I guess that's a bit of a moot point now.
Most Huskies require considerably more effort to train than the average pet dog. They require a lot of persistence and patience as well, because most are quite strong-willed. If your 13-year old Husky was mild mannered his whole life, you had an exception to the rule.
I realize you say you have a lot of experience with dogs, breeding, and working with vets... But most of the issues with this dog still sound like training issues! I'm sure if you re-read what you wrote you will agree. Have you ever trained a difficult dog before? Many people who are around dogs a lot assume they know how to train them, but are really not very good at it. If you feel you have done your best so far to train the dog, I would suggest working with a professional trainer.
If the dog has been poorly trained thus far, it will require even MORE effort and persistence to make up for that fact. But they are great dogs, very smart, friendly, and activity-oriented, so if you will put in the effort I think you and your family will end up with a good friend for many years. It is also critical that the dog respect and obey EVERY member of your family, including young children, which can take time even after you have trained it to obey you because you need to show your children how to work with the dog properly as well.
If, however, you are not willing to put in the time and effort this will require, you should take it back to the breeder or place it with another family that is able and willing to do so. A shelter is a not a nice place for a dog, especially one like a Husky.
Digging is a trait of the breed, but the dog may simply be bored. Huskies are generally very intelligent and energetic. They need to be provided with regular challenges and considerable exercise outlets on a regular basis. If you do not do this, the dog will make his own challenges and find outlets for his energy (typically mischievous, inventive, and destructive.) I don't think a Husky should be left unsupervised out in the yard for extended periods... They get bored, and bored usually leads to mischief.
As for the chewing and howling and escape attemts, at over a year old he's definitely old enough to know better, so I suspect he has simply either not been trained properly and persistently enough (you need a LOT of persistence with Huskies), or you have not established proper dominance with this dog.
Additionally, for chewing, make sure you provide and train him on things he CAN chew, and also use some don't-chew-on-this flavor spray on stuff you don't want chewed. But again, you should not be leaving this dog alone in the back yard for extended periods. It WILL get bored and it WILL chew if you leave it out there with nothing else to do.
For howling... Some howling is common for the breed, but to get to the point of being a problem the dog must be left alone outside a lot, and it shouldn't be. It needs to be properly trained so it doesn't have to be left chained outside, because it will never be happy that way. If it is howling during brief trips outside, constant negative reinforcement works wonders. Start with spray of water, if you religiously do that for weeks with no improvement (unlikely), you can try a no-bark collar, but you need to TRAIN with the collar, not just slap it on the dog. But I've never seen a Husky that was a problem howler if it wasn't left outside for long periods.
Huskies can be a little difficult to establish dominance with, particularly once they are a little older, but it is critical with a breed like this (a working pack dog) that you establish that you are alpha. Until you have done that, the dog will not reliably respect or obey you. Since it sounds like you have a good dog background I'll assume you know that establishing dominance does not mean "bullying" (and certainly not hurting or abusing!) the dog. However, for the benefit of others, here are some ways to establish dominance (in order of increasing "severity").
First, the most important thing to know is that you cannot ignore ANY challenge to your dominance from the dog. Your dominance will be challenged frequently by a dog like a Husky, particularly in the 6 - 18 month range. Whether he is trying to "squeeze you out" walking through a door or starts taking a game too seriously, I cannot emphasize enough that you must deal with every single challenge. You must always (1) win the contest (2) establish dominance (3) praise the dog.
You should have the attitude of "I am always right, you (the dog) will do what I want, and I will not put up with disobediance, period." NEVER get angry with the dog. They do not respond well to that, and you are likely to hurt the dog doing some of these things if you are angry. Teaching the dog to fear you is not good or effective. You want the dog to love you but respect you. You should be calm, firm and direct. Always use the minimum correction necessary.
Timeout - Put the dog on a down stay (if not trained, put it in its crate). 15 minutes is fine. No yelling, no fuss, no big deal. Can be surprisingly effective, especially with a "pack" dog like a Husky. When you end the timeout, praise the dog and play with it.
Eye contact - Stare the dog down. If your dog does not back down in a stare contest, start a verbal correction. As soon as it backs down, praise it.
Tap under the chin - Alpha dogs correct subordinates with a nip under the chin. You do it by tapping (NEVER hitting) the dog under the chin with 1-2 fingers. DO NOT tap the dog on top of the muzzle - that will make him afraid of your hand and can possibly injure his sense of smell.
Grab under the ears - Again this is something alpha dogs do to subordinates. Grab a handful of skin and fur under your dog's ears firmly (but not so as to cause pain) while verbally correcting. You can step this up a little by "shivering", but I hesitate to even mention it because it must be done with VERY small motions and VERY lightly, as if you were shivering from being cold. DO NOT SHAKE or you can seriously injure the dog! Do this just enough to get the point across. DO NOT grab the dog by the the neck. Praise and positive reinforce the dog after.
There is a stronger technique, but I think it should only be used if your dog is aggressive towards people, which yours is not, so I am not going to discuss it here.
