My dictionary says this word means something like "official; public" - how
does the word go from that definition to being used as a derogatory suffix for
animals and people?

One example the dictionary gives is 熊公 how would this be any different than 熊め
to express anger towards a bear?

I should also add that the word can also indicate intimacy and a high level of
respect.
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question
meaning nuances etymology
how did 公 (こう） come to be derogatory
I have done some research both online and in real life (all in Japanese) but
failed to find any reliable information as to exactly when or how it added the
new usage. So, this will mostly be a non-answer.

Adoration and contempt are both sides of the same coin and the line between
the two sides is fragile. It would not be unusual using an honorific to show
respect to someone in public and simultaneously using the same "honorific" in
a derogatory way in one's privacy to express one's true feelings toward the
same person. After all, the walls have ears.

Regarding the suffix 「[公]{こう}」, its derogatory usage is limited to highly
colloquial conversations, and believe it or not, it is not at all in wide use.
The only words containing 「公」 that I have actively used or heard others use
have been 「[先公]{せんこう}」 and 「ポリ[公]{こう}」 (meaning "teacher" and "cop",
respectively) , and it was only during junior high school. It just was not
cool to continue using those words in high school. It should be noted that
even in junior high, kids used those words mainly because it was the fad to do
so at that time, not because we were delinquents who had grudges against our
teachers and the police.

The only reason that I feel that Japanese-learners might be mislead to
thinking that 「公」 is in wider use is that it is used much more often in
fiction. In real life, we do not speak like the characters one sees in manga,
anime, films, etc.

If OP's dictionary actually said that 「[熊公]{くまこう}」 was derogatory, it is NOT.
It only means "little beary boy". It is totally different from 「熊め」, which
means "that f***ing bear".
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answer