8 month old rescue has crate-phobia

Question

His name is Pepper   Please help. We adopted an 8 month old puppy from the Humane Society a week ago. He was described as a plott hound/ mix is 36lbs and is shaped similarly to a pit bull. He has an incredibly negative reaction to being confined away from us in any way.

First two nights we tried the bathroom. Absolutely destroyed the bathroom including ripping at the door itself. During the day both days, someone was home with him so he wasn't confined. We got a wooden crate (http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/52/a/AAAAAv2dBxgAAAAAAFKqDw.jpg?v=118179309). He cried incredibly loudly and tried to chew at the wood on Wednesday night. I took him to work with me yesterday during the day. Last night he continued to cry and managed to chew one of the wooden bars off and tried to dig through the wall next to the crate. In the morning before work today, I moved the crate away from the wall and put him inside in order to leave for work. He panicked so badly, he shoved his head through the small opening and managed to get one shoulder/paw stuck as well. I covered the opening with another piece of wood. He chewed through that as well and tried to shove his body through again.

I am desperate right now. I have no clue what to do. It seems he is the type that will never be able to be crate trained but I cannot leave him loose in the apartment because we have a cat and they have not fully acclimated to each other yet. Occasional lunging/barking from the dog, cat ignores him.

I'm worried that we will have to bring him back because there is nothing else anyone can tell me to try that may work. We sat with him while he was in the cage and he still shrieks as though he's being tortured. He has bedding in there, treats, a toy, and a shirt of ours with our smell.

Answer
The logical thing is to return him, but many of us are not emotionally able to do that.  

I think he has been abused in the past, being confined by himself for too long.  You could try a tie down, a short length of chain anchored at one end and a snap at the other.  It serves the same purpose protecting the dog and house by restricting the dog, but without the enclosure the dog has come to fear.  

It may or may not help.  If not, a private trainer may help, but even then not for sure.