Ruby on Rails Exceptions

status.rb

class Status < ActiveRecord::Base
...
    before_destroy :check_existing_events
    
    private
...
    def check_existing_events
        raise Exception.new("Events exist that use that status.") unless Event.where(:status_id => self.id).count == 0
    end
end

status_controller.rb

class StatusesController < ApplicationController
...
    def destroy
        @status = Status.find(params[:id])
        begin
            @status.destroy
        rescue Exception => e
            flash[:error] = e.message
            redirect_to statuses_url
            return
        end

        respond_to do |format|
            format.html { redirect_to statuses_url }
            format.json { head :no_content }
        end
    end
end