Dr. Hugh Chisholm is the Director of Paw Project-Atlantic Canada, which includes the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador. He earned a BSc degree from Dalhousie University in 1977 followed by a Diploma in Education from the University of British Columbia in 1978. After a few years of teaching in northern British Columbia, he studied at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan where he earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1986. In 1987, Dr. Chisholm and his wife, Kathy, opened Atlantic Cat Hospital, the first veterinary hospital in Atlantic Canada devoted exclusively to cats and their owners, which he operated until 2010.
Dr. Chisholm is the president of The Tuxedo Party of Canada Cat Welfare Society, a group that advocates to improve the lives of cats in Nova Scotia and around the world. He is also an avid outdoor photographer – you can view his images at https://hughchisholm.ca.
Dr. Chisholm is happy to report that declawing has been banned in all four Atlantic Provinces as well as the four western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). He believes that banning the surgery is long overdue, noting that it’s already prohibited in over 22 countries. “It’s a barbaric mutilation that does nothing to benefit the cat,” Dr. Chisholm says. “It’s something that should become history. It’s an embarrassment to our profession.”
Dr. Chisholm received the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association’s Award of Merit in 2019 in recognition of his advocacy on behalf of cats in Nova Scotia.