Asked how he was feeling, the genial foreman butcher said he felt ''quite proud''.
''I think I've done a good job. I've got no regrets,'' he said.
Tributes were flowing for Mr McLeod, with Tom Latimer, the Pukeuri sub-branch secretary of the New Zealand Meat Workers Union, saying he could not emphasise enough how well respected he was.
Plant manager Ivan Docherty said Mr McLeod had done a ''fantastic job'' on the slaughter board. ''(He's) taken it to another level really. What Chris brings is the values he has around people and how he treats people and gains their respect to work for him . . . he will be sorely missed.''
After leaving school, Mr McLeod joined the stock and station industry, set for a career as a stock agent.
But it was inadvertently through cricket that he made the shift to the meat processing industry.
He played cricket alongside local businessmen Gus Young and Bill Cubitt. Mr Cubitt was in charge of the shipping side at Pukeuri and they persuaded him to move over.
Mr McLeod joined the weight box office in 1971, aged 20, and his first job was to manually collate kill sheets.
He progressed through an assistant stock clerk role to working in the shipping department but, after a few years and about to get married to Heather, he moved to the tannery and a higher hourly pay rate.
After three years, there was a push to get all four of Pukeuri's chains up to full capacity, so, in 1975, five people went over from the tannery, including Mr McLeod, to learn the chain.
''You had six weeks to get up to tally or you were off the chain. It was very strenuous work. I was a learner pelter and, after two weeks, my hands and arms were killing me.
''But I was learning alongside Ray ''Taffy'' Matthews who was a rugby prop for North Otago. My father coached rugby and a former All Black once told him that Ray was the strongest prop he'd ever played against.
''One day, Ray told me he was thinking of chucking it in as his hands and arms were killing him. I told him mine were too. I felt a lot better after that and we both stuck with it and made the tally. I was a pelter on the chain for 12 seasons and never had any more trouble with my hands or arms.''
In the off-season, Mr McLeod worked at the Waitaki Instant Mashed Potato factory.
The 1980s saw challenging times for the sector. Butcher numbers were being cut on the chains so he applied as a supervisor in the cutting rooms and was there for seven years.
In 1993, he was promoted to his current role as foreman butcher on the slaughter board, which was a ''huge step up''.
''It's very different being on the slaughter board when you have responsibility for running it and ensuring everyone's safety,'' he said.
Mr McLeod witnessed many changes over the years - including several changes of ownership of the plant, dramatic changes in technology, health and safety and animal welfare, and also in the wider farming community.
He welcomed the changes in animal welfare, including stunning technology which became available in the late 1970s, which meant a 'totally different ballgame''.
Mr McLeod played a major role in the introduction of bobby calf processing at the plant, following the downturn in lamb numbers with the growth in the dairy industry in the mid-1990s.
''Head office proposed looking at starting up a bobby calf kill. I was very positive about it because it was going to mean more work for our people.
''I was sent to the North Island to view bobby calf sheds and I went back to the management team and said 'we can do this'.
''It's one of the best things to have happened to Pukeuri because it got us a winter kill and 10 months of work a year for at least two of our chains, rather than eight,'' he said.
There had also been the introduction of Halal slaughtering and also the increased focus on health and safety.
While health and safety had always been important, Alliance Group had lifted it ''to a new level'' over the past five years and it was the ''absolute priority'' in everything that was done,'' he said.
People were the most important asset at Pukeuri and it was ''like a family'' at the plant.
''Everybody knows everybody and everybody usually digs in and helps each other. It's been like that since the Waitaki [International] days.''
The plant community had also become much more diverse over the years with Pacific Island, Filipino and South African employees all enriching the culture.
Many team-building exercises had been held over the years but the aftermath of a major fire at the plant in 2006 was probably the best team-building exercise ever. It was ''horrible'' what staff faced, he said.
He would miss the interaction with people and the camaraderie, but he left with fond memories.
''It's been a great time. I'm pleased to leave Pukeuri the way it is. I think it's in great heart,'' he said.
Mr McLeod was looking forward to spending more time with his family and travelling, along with enjoying his hobbies.
Horses were a passion and he has been training his own harness racing horses for many years, having taken up the sport following a rugby injury when he was 19. He only ever had one or two in work.
He won the opening race on Cup Day at Addington five years ago with Armbro Demon and the mare had recently weaned her first foal.
